SAUGUS — More than two decades after its debut, the Fall Festival is drawing in more crowds than ever before.
A maximum of 900 attendees were expected to show up to the festival on Saturday, according to Peter Rossetti, Jr., chairman of Friends of Breakheart Reservation. As the number reached closer to 1,600 people before noon, they began running out of everything. Thankfully the vendors, baby animal petting zoo, a meet and greet with Smokey the Bear, and Touch-a-Truck kept the crowds entertained.
“It’s been going almost too well,” said Rossetti. “People were lined up by 9:30 (a.m.) to get in and we didn’t even open up until 10. I think the good weather is really what brought everyone out.”
The chairman said they ran out of more than 800 pumpkins for the decorating table before 11:30 a.m. and by 12:30 p.m., they had no more apples for the cider press demonstration. The festival ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and with an hour left of the event, they barely had enough candy and hay for the Candy-in-the-Hay and Stuff-your-own-Scarecrow activities.
With a 70-degree day, and not a cloud in the sky, the attending parents, children, and dogs didn’t seem to be bothered by the low amount of supplies.
“I love it,” said Janessa Vera of Everett. “This is our first time and it’s awesome. It’s free and there’s so much to do for the kids.
Vera’s two-year-old daughter, Eva, was mesmerized as she sat in the cage with baby ducks and gently petted them. Baby chickens and bunnies were also available during the petting zoo. The K9 demonstration, with patrolman Tim Fawcett and Bruin the German Shepherd, was a huge hit, drawing in a large crowd at the center of the festival.
The Fall Festival is put on every year by the Friends of Breakheart Reservation and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Autumn-themed and family-friendly activities, old-fashioned lawn games, a variety of food tables and local vendors, and take home crafts kept attendees from all over Eastern Massachusetts entertained.
