For the Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — Fortville has been busy with crowd-drawing events this summer, but those at Fortville Action Inc. are hoping area residents and visitors aren’t done celebrating yet.
The group, a non-profit with the goal of making Fortville a more vibrant community, is planning its biggest celebration of the year, the fall festival, set for Saturday.
Fortville Action Chairman David Werking said he hopes the fall festival can build on previous summer celebrations.
“This is our big anchor event of the year,” he said. “Fortville has had a lot of good things this year, with the Fourth of July and the weekly cruise-ins. This should build off of those.”
The event’s centerpiece will be a large cruise-in, with up to 300 classic cars expected to be lining Main Street and Landmark Park throughout the day.
Car owners will be checking in during the morning hours, and their cars will be on display until at least 6:30 p.m.
There will be plenty for visitors to do aside from viewing the cars, organizers said.
Werking said he expects more than 20 vendors to be open during the day along with at least a half dozen selling food.
Several musical acts have been named and will be performing on stage for most of the afternoon and early evening. The first band, Two Guitars and a Box, a three-piece acoustic band, will take the stage at 2:30 p.m. and be followed by country and classic rock group My Delilah at 4:30 p.m.
Invisible Ray will round out the day’s entertainment at 6:30 p.m.
Visitors to the stage area are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets to enjoy the show.
Werking said Fortville police and firefighters as well as Knights of Columbus will be on hand to make sure visitors to the event can enjoy the festivities without incident.
Additionally, Chief of Police Bill Knauer said the department will be posting signs along Main Street to let drivers know that there will be no parking after 1 a.m. Saturday. He said the police will start having violators towed after 7 a.m.
Cars can be registered at the Fortville Action website, and registrants can also enter a raffle for various door prizes, which will be determined at a later date. The first 300 classic car entrants will receive a keepsake coin that was designed specifically for the event. One side of the coin features the Fortville Action logo while the other side celebrates the sesquicentennial of Fortville.
Fortville Action also will sell T-shirts to commemorate the event during the event. They are available in sizes small through triple extra-large and come in two colors, burgundy or white. They cost $15.
Werking said the festival will go on rain or shine.
“The weather is the biggest risk,” he said. “In case of rain, that will limit the number of cars. But we’ll still have as much of a festival as possible.”
