Every year the city I live in celebrates the life and times of James Oliver Curwood with the fun filled Curwood Festival. Now you’re probably wondering who in the world that is, right? He was an author who lived in Owosso and had a Norman chateau replica built on the banks of the Shiawassee river. It was here where he wrote and entertained guests. Now, the castle is a museum of Curwood memorabilia that visitors can check out while visiting Owosso.

Curwood Castle

The Curwood Festival is  your typical festival with carnival rides, games, parades, and food. And I love carnival food! I don’t know what it is about it that makes it so good! Elephant ears, fresh made lemonade, and italian sausage with peppers & onions… Mmm! I love the sights, the sounds, and the smells of it as I walk through.

Of course as with anything there is a downside to the three day event… the carnies and all the riff raff that seems to come out of the wood work this time of year. My kids like to say that they all come out from the sewers and then head back down until the next festival starts. I suppose that it’s a good theory since we don’t seem to see them any other time of the year.

The girls after the Kids Parade Friday - Cait shed her uniform immediately!

This year was a particularly busy one for us with Caitlin playing at the opening ceremonies with the freshman band, all three girls were in the parade on Friday night (there are two parades), we wanted to watch the big parade on Saturday & ride the rides (there is never a way out of this other than rain), and Sunday my oldest was playing downtown with the high school jazz band.

The Freshman Band at Curwood Opening Ceremonies

We all have a pretty good time I think… except for those few moments (hours) where Natalie lost her cell phone. I am so surprised at how honest some people are because we checked with the carnival office throughout the night and someone finally turned in her phone! The lost phone resulted in us sticking around until 10pm while the girls rode rides and searched for the phone. Which didn’t seem to bother them all that much but their brother was getting pretty tired!

The rides!

This year we had some special guests here who came to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Main Beverage Company here in Owosso. I know that for years they’ve been trying to get them here and it hasn’t worked out till now and they were a huge hit with everyone young and old.

Budweiser Clydesdale Horses

The Clydesdale horses are beautiful animals. They were so well mannered with all the people hovering around them and the noise of music & carnival rides, but I suppose that it’s something that they’re used to since they travel all around the country to various festivals and events.

I think that fairs, festivals, and carnivals tend to bring out the kid in all of us. They’re fun and can bring us back to a simpler time when we were young and free.

Do you go to the fairs that are in your area?