ROCKVILLE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– The largest festival in Indiana is returning to Parke County, as the Covered Bridge festival kicked off it’s 10-day celebration last Friday.
Jim Meece has been involved in the festival as a vendor, set up in Rockville, where he sells sassafras candy. He said it’s been special to watch the festival grow over the years.
“Rockville is the headquarters for the Covered Bridge Festival. In the early days, this is the only place they had anything going,” he said “But of course now it’s grown into this county wide thing, there’s things going on every place.”
Plenty of visitors flocked to the 31 covered bridges around the county that are the namesake of the festival, but hundreds still made their way to Rockville to interact with dozens of local vendors and stores.
Courtney Cook, the co-owner of Clay Plant Road Pottery, said the festival is essential for small businesses like hers.
“They look forward and plan for this the entire year. This is a huge support to them,” she said. “I think we absolutely are so grateful of all the people who come in and visit our county.”
Jenn Kersey, the founder of Rusted Root Co., is experiencing her first festival since opening up her store in downtown Rockville. She said she thought the crowds were partially a result of increased local vendors in the area.
“Bringing those items, and those people who are artisans and making the handmade goods, back to the square, where it started, people really like that. I think there’s definitely a deeper appreciation that’s starting to come back around for those handmade goods,” she said.
She said starting her business also changed her perspective on the festival.
“Growing up, it was just a fun place to go and run around, and get some really great food,” she said. “Obviously now, this is my business, and so having the crowds come and see what we have to offer is incredibly important to small businesses.”
That sentiment was echoed by Meece, who said he’s felt a sense of community grow over the years during his time as vendor.
“We have customers who have been buying from us for over 50 years,” he said. “We had a lady come up last year, about my age, who had a little kid in her arms, a baby, took a picture of our samples and gave it to that baby, that was the 5th generation of her family who had that sassafras candy.”
He said stories like that are what’s kept him coming back for so many years.
“This is my [65th festival,] I’ve been doing it since I was seven years old,” he said. “My wife, poor lady, she’s been with me doing this for 40 years now. That’s just a long time. but we can’t imagine not doing it. I think we’ll do it until we drop.”
