MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury will celebrate hometown fun Friday through Sunday at the 44th annual Middlebury Summer Festival.

Food vendors will open at 11 a.m. Friday in Memorial Park so those working in the Middlebury area can get a taste of the festival over their lunch hour. Children’s attractions will open later in the afternoon and will include inflatables, games, a rock wall and a Ferris wheel.

The garden tractor pull will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Railroad Street. Children’s games will also begin at 6:30 p.m. next to the fire station. Parents and grandparents can get in on some of the fun with such games as the Little Shavers contest. A teen dance is set for 8:30 p.m. in the East Park Pavilion.

Saturday activities begin at 7 a.m. with an all-you-can-eat pancake and sausage breakfast sponsored by Middlebury Church of the Brethren in the East Park Pavilion.

At 9 a.m. registration begins at the covered bridge at Essenhaus for the fifth annual fishing tournament, open for age groups 5 and younger, 6–10 and 11–15. Prizes will be awarded for the biggest fish and most fish caught for each age group, plus overall biggest fish. Participants should bring their own fishing equipment. All fish will be measured, recorded and released back into the pond.

One of the main features of the Middlebury Summer Festival is Saturday’s parade, with the crowd lining up well before noon for the 1 p.m. start. Grand marshals for the 2012 parade are Middlebury business owners Bob and Nancy Hawkins.

Around 3 p.m. Saturday the Wounded Warrior Project motorcycle ride will go through Middlebury. Organizers of the ride ask people to line the street as the motorcycles pass through as a show of support for the U.S. military.

At 5 p.m. Sunday, everyone is welcome to a community worship service in the Entertainment Tent. The service is sponsored by the Middlebury Ministerium.

The festival needs volunteers to help organize and run the festival next year. Anyone interested can talk to organizers at the festival information booth in the band shell in Memorial Park, email msfinfo@middleburyfestivals.com or call 825-5980.



Middlebury Summer Festival Schedule

Friday

11 a.m. — Vendors open

6 to 7:30 p.m. — Mark Tripp Magic Show (Entertainment Tent)

6:30 p.m. — Garden Tractor Pull, held by Elkhart County Garden Tractor Pullers (Railroad Street)

6:30 to 7:45 p.m. — Games and prizes for kids (beside fire station on Bristol Street)

8 to 10 p.m. — Total Recall (Entertainment Tent)

8:30 to 10 p.m. — Teen Dance (East Park Pavilion)

Vendors will remain open until 10:00 p.m.



Saturday

7 to 10:30 a.m. — Pancake and sausage breakfast, all you can eat. (East Park Pavilion)

9 a.m. — Registration begins at the covered bridge at the Essenhaus for the fishing tournament. Fish from 9:30 to 11 a.m., with open fishing until noon.

10 to 11 a.m. — Hey Kids, Its Jammin — a seven-piece rock band composed of Northridge students (Entertainment Tent)

11 a.m. — Vendors open

11 a.m. to noon — Northridge High School Show Choirs (East Park basketball court)

1 p.m. — Festival parade. Route goes from Middlebury Elementary School to the library

Following the parade:

• Tae kwon do demonstration (East Park)

• Music and Dance Academy (Entertainment Tent)

• Distinguished Young Women of Middlebury (Entertainment Tent)

• Presentation of parade awards (Entertainment Tent)

5:30 to 7:30 p.m. — Velvet Water (Entertainment Tent)

8 to 10 p.m. — DANG! A band founded by Northridge teachers Bryce Cone and Travis Miner (Entertainment Tent)



Sunday

5 p.m. — Community worship in the Entertainment Tent



Middlebury Summer Festival entertainment

Magician-comedian Mark Trip will kick off the entertainment at the Middlebury Summer Festival.

Mark Tripp’s Family Magic Show, which begins at 6 p.m. Friday in the Entertainment tent, is filled with magic, illusions, comedy, juggling, puppets and much more.

Local favorite band Total Recall goes on stage at 8 p.m. Friday. The band will take festival-goers on a musical journey back to the ’60s and ’70s.

Saturday’s entertainment will begin at 10 a.m. with Hey Kids, Its Jamin, a band of Northridge students. Caleb Scott, Brian Jones, Mitch Hicox, Tony Maas, Aaron Yoder, Jon Frank and Alex “Larry” Laurence met each other through Northridge’s band program. Scott and Jones had the idea of performing at Northridge’s “Battle of the Bands, and, Hey Kids, Its Jamin, was formed.

Following in East Park at 11 a.m. are the award-winning Northridge Northern Lights and Starlights show choirs.

Evening entertainment has Velvet Water, a bluegrass/Americana/rock inspired jam band from Winchester, Ky., beginning at 5:30. With sets that consist of primarily original material, Velvet Water also throws in a mix of cover songs from a variety of genres.

Closing out the festival at 8 p.m. is DANG!, an eclectic band of area teachers.