FENWICK FESTIVAL EVENTS SCHEDULE
Friday, June 26 – 6 p.m. to midnight
6 p.m.: Sons of Italy Italian sausage
6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Future Falcon booth
6:30 p.m.: Will Fluke band
8:45 p.m.: Hillbilly Inc. band
Saturday, Jun 27 – 4 p.m. to midnight
Pulled pork sandwiches
6:30 p.m.: Farewell Fisher Unplugged band
8:45 p.m.: The Menus band
Sunday, June 28 – 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
4 p.m. to 10 p.m.: $10 all day ride bracelets
5 p.m.: Matt Kleingers Acoustic band
4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.: Sons of Italy spaghetti dinner $9 for adults, $5 for children 5 and under
5 p.m.: Eric Jerardi Band
7:30 p.m.: 10 Gold Raffle finalists drawn
9 p.m.: Gold Raffle finalists attempt to start the car
9:20 p.m.: Red Raffle $5,000 winner announced
9:30 p.m.: Basket Booth winners announced
The Fenwick Festival enters its 63rd year of fundraising for Bishop Fenwick High School this Friday, June 26. The festival takes place over Friday, Saturday and Sunday on the school grounds.
Robin Blank, marketing and communications coordinator for Bishop Fenwick, said that the school has moved away from using money from the festival to fund operations at the school.
Now, “the money generated from the festival goes to support special initiatives throughout the year,” she said.
The initiatives range from athletic to academic to technological, but Blank said one thing they have in common is any initiative “directly benefits students of Bishop Fenwick” and only students.
Blank said the money is focused on special initiatives because the income from a festival can be unpredictable. Weather is one factor that can affect money generated.
Last year heavy storms knocked over tents and carnival rides and rain soaked the school grounds where the festival was held.
“Some years are prettier than others,” Blank said.
Still, she said the festival always comes together because of the more than 700 volunteers who assist at different stages of the event. Of the 550 students attending Bishop Fenwick, 90 percent will volunteer at some point during the festival, she said.
“Without them (the festival) just wouldn’t happen,” Blank said.
This year, Blank predicted between 15,000 and 20,000 people will attend over the three days. One draw for the crowd is the performance by The Menus on Saturday. The band has a sold out show at Fraze Pavilon in Kettering the night before, so the festival provides a second chance for those who missed out on tickets.
One downside of heavy attendance is traffic on Ohio 122, where the school is located, which often backs up during the festival.
To alleviate this, a new addition to this year’s festival is auxiliary parking at the Atrium Medical Center and free shuttle service between there and the festival, Blank said.
Other features of the festival are rides, games and raffles, including its “iconic” basket booth, where attendees can enter a raffle for baskets containing prizes such as Apple watches and tickets to sporting events, Blank said.
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