Milverton was the place to be on Thursday night as people took to the street for the annual Moonlight Madness.
Now in its 24th year, Moonlight Madness has been a long tradition for Milverton, said organizer Heather Herman of the Milverton Business Association. Every third Thursday in August, Milverton’s Main Street is closed off and the public is invited to take part in the celebration.
“Once the road is closed, everyone shows up,” she said. “It’s become a big social event here.”
Not only is it a great social gathering, but it allows business owners to get to know their customers better and make new connections.
“It’s something that brings people downtown, it’s a chance for businesses to interact with their customers,” Herman said.
This year’s Moonlight Madness included children’s games and activities, live music from the Milverton Legion Band, and of course lots of different food and shopping bargains.
“There’s always food and barbecues and sales,” Herman said.
New additions to this year’s Moonlight Madness was a classic car show, and an outdoor movie hosted by the Milverton Recreation Complex at the end of the night. If the crowd in the street was any indication, Herman said this year’s event was a huge success.
“A lot of people said it was the best crowd in years,” Herman said. “We had good traffic in the stores too, that’s a bonus.”
After organizing the event for close to 10 years, Herman said she’s not sure where she hopes Moonlight Madness goes in the future, only that it continue to grow. Although, she mentioned the possibility of returning to theme nights for each year, which has been done previously.
“I thought it was kind of fun, but I might be the only one,” she said. “We discuss it every year and we try to do something different.”
No matter what, Herman said it’s almost guaranteed that Moonlight Madness will return for another year in 2011 if Herman has anything to do with it.
“I wouldn’t even consider not doing it, the people would miss it,” she said.