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Bethlehem Press: Blueberry Festival remains sweet during a bitter summer
August 26th, 2020 | In The News
Written by Lani Goins for The Bethlehem Press
Adjusting to this very unusual year, the 33rd annual Bethlehem Blueberry Festival ran over two weekends in late July, with drive-through pickups on the weekdays in between.
Attendance was controlled by limiting tickets to 200 people per time slot, with four time slots each of the four weekend days.
On-site, the festival’s scope was reduced. One field was reserved for a small selection of vendors and crafters. An indoor shopping area was devoted to blueberry products. Visitors could picnic in socially distanced spots in the orchard. Instead of games and crafts led in groups for children, each child received a bag with crafts including Moravian Paper Dolls, Burnside Butterflies, Cheerio Birdfeeders, and a word search and eye-spy activity. Live music and artists were still playing and working.
Two new features were added to the festival, the Blueberry to Go Market for drive-through blueberry goods, and a partnership with Moravian Village.
Blueberry goods galore were available. New this year were Lemon Blueberry cookies, Blueberry Ricotta Bars, and Blueberry Lemon Vodka.
The drive-through sales on weekdays exceeded the organizers’ expectations. “The community stepped up. One woman ordered three times!,” said Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites Vice President and festival manager Loriann Wukitsch. She affirmed that the plan is to have online sales again next year.
Event coordinator Jennifer Bender was also new to the festival.
She and Wukitsch hope the community enjoyed this year’s festival, and look forward to a more traditional festival with additional online sales in the future.
