Lisa Hlavinka | The Gazette
WADSWORTH — Food, festival rides and a 20-foot tall match. They’re all part of the 37th Blue Tip Festival.
The festival, which begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Memorial Park, is named after the Ohio Blue Tip, a factory that produced wooden matches for several decades in the city until relocating in the mid-1980s.
Tradition still burns bright, however, as the festival will commence with the ceremonial lighting of a 20-foot-tall match in the square downtown. The match will stay lit throughout the week.
At 6 p.m., the parade will take off from Wadsworth High School, where it will march to Gazebo Park downtown and stop momentarily for retired Fire Chief Richard Honert to light the match before continuing, Blue Tip Festival Committee Chairman Andy McIlvaine said.
“We’re expecting a great turnout because it is an icon to so many here in the Wadsworth area that summer is beginning,†McIlvaine said.
The second annual Blue Tip Idol singing contest will be held at the downtown gazebo at 6:30 p.m. June 27. The first 20 people to sign up for $20 will compete in front of three judges, who will award the winner free time in a local recording studio and a $25 gift card from Wadsworth Music. Participants must be age 16 and older, entertainment coordinator Bill Conover said.
New this year is a Wii Guitar Hero Contest. For $10, the first 32 people to sign up can compete in double-elimination rounds at 1 p.m. June 27. All ages can join the contest.
Sign-ups are going on now and are first-come, first served, Conover said.
The Wadsworth Matchstick 4 Mile Foot Race begins at 7 p.m. Friday. It starts and ends at Isham Elementary School, 360 College St. Individuals can sign up at the school on race day or before at www.ohiochallengeseries.com.
The festival is open from 6 to 11 p.m. Tuesday through June 27. On Wednesday and June 27, the festival also will be open from 1 to 5 p.m. Between 5 and 6 p.m., vendors will be closed.
All proceeds from the festival benefit local nonprofit agencies, Conover said.
Contact Lisa Hlavinka at (330) 721-4048 or lhlavinka@ohio.net.
