KENT—The participants in the annual Carnival, sponsored by Kent Memorial Library, may change year-to-year but the feeling of recognizing and celebrating the end of summer is the same.
This year’s event is Saturday, Aug. 31, from noon to 4 p.m. on the Golden Falcon Field on Main Street. There will be a series of games available to play with a $5 bracelet. There will also be many nonprofits offering activities and food.
Kent Memorial Library started the carnival in 2018. It was the brainchild of Library Director Sarah Marshall because she missed the Kent Volunteer Fire Department’s Firemen’s Fair. She looks forward to once again bringing the town together for a beautiful afternoon.
“I personally missed the Firemen’s Fair. This is me trying to create something that brings everyone together for the beginning of the school year for a chance to visit with your friends and neighbors,” Marshall said Monday. “I always thought that was the best part of the fair.”
The Kent Volunteer Fire Department held the fair for decades as a fundraiser over three days at the end of the summer. However, it became less profitable, so the volunteers discontinued it after the 2013 event.
Marshall decided that the library could reinvent the gathering as a community event to celebrate the end of summer and she enlisted the help of other nonprofits.
She looks forward to seeing happy children running around the field. “This is my small attempt to bring back that kind of small town feeling,” Marshall said. This is the fifth year because they took two years off due to the Covid pandemic.
“We hope people come and learn about getting involved with all the local nonprofits,” she said.
The library will be offering snowcones and children’s games.
TradesUp and the Eric Sloane Museum will be encouraging children to try their hand at working with wood.
Children can create and decorate bookmarks with the Kent Quilters. Gigantic bubbles will be offered by the Kent Land Trust, along with fishing and rock painting. Live music is being provided by the Merryall Center for the Arts.
Food will be served by the Kent Lions Club. The Kent Chamber of Commerce will have a series of games for children to play. Kent Park and Recreation will offer an inflatable obstacle course for children to traverse.
Kent Affordable Housing and KVFD will offer a Touch-a-Truck activity.
The event is open to all ages.
(Editor’s Note: This article was updated Thursday, Aug. 29 at 11:51 a.m. with information about the food being offered by the Kent Lions Club.)
