It was back to the good old days in Listowel this past weekend.
July 7 to 10 marked the Listowel Sidewalk Festival Days in the downtown and there was fun, food, rides and shopping for all.
Put on by the Retail Merchants Association, the event brought out plenty of locals and visitors alike.
“The Retail Merchants Association and its members have created something great with this street festival,” said Bill Huether, president of the association. “If you were downtown on Friday evening there were points were you couldn’t see down the street for people.”
After a successful event last year, association members were determined to build on that this year.
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Rides were provided by GTA Midays & Rentals, there were games for all ages and downtown merchants offered customers promotions on their products. Heavy trucks were rerouted and parts of the downtown was closed to traffic to allow Listowel Sidewalk Festival Days participants and merchants to enjoy the downtown all to themselves.
Milt Corley, owner of Corely Sports, said the number of customers coming through his store during the weekend was higher than other sidewalk sales events.
“There was a lot of (walking) traffic through the downtown, a lot of faces we haven’t seen before . . . there were new people into the store, which is always a good thing.”
Having a Midway likely attracted new clientele, he said, and while the street was closed to vehicular traffic, it also made it “a lot safer for people to get around downtown. It created a nicer atmosphere. It’s nice to do different things now and again, mix things up a bit.
Huether noted the event is a “work in progress, and . . . we could create a really fantastic event.”
He thanked the Municipality of North Perth and economic development for their continued assistance and support in making the event a reality.
“GTA Midways Inc. did a great job of filling the street and there was
action at every corner,” said Huether. “The entire community had something going on, which just added to the weekend as a whole.”
He congratulated the Listowel Sidewalk Festival Days committee on their hard work in co-ordinating an “excellent” event.
“They . . . worked very hard and did an amazing job,” said Huether. “See you next year.”