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Enjoy downtown with the Family Festival on Main

Submitted photo Vendors, food trucks and different entertainment lined the streets of the Family Festival on Main last year in Minot. The Minot Downtown Businesses & Professionals Association anticipates this will be the biggest festival yet as they are working in conjunction with the YWCA, Minot Lions Club and Minot Stiletto.

The Family Festival on Main has been a tradition on Main Street in downtown Minot for longer than Margie Bolton can even remember.

“We are far from the first year,” Bolton said with a laugh. “It’s been going on for many years. I’ve been downtown since 2004 and it’s been going on for a long time before then.”

Bolton opened Margie’s Art Studio downtown in 2004 and has been involved with organizing the festival ever since.

The festival celebrates the changing of seasons and gives families the opportunity to go out together and enjoy what downtown Minot has to offer.

The event is hosted by the Minot Downtown Businesses & Professionals Association and seems to grow every year.

This year, Main Street will be filled with bounce houses, games, public safety agencies, bingo and live performances.

The festival will also feature performances from the Feather Dancers of New Town and a contest that was introduced last year.

“We have frozen t-shirt contests where we freeze t-shirts and then (people) have to rip them open and try to put them on,” Bolton explained. “It’s really funny and any age can do that.”

New this year, the MDBPA is working closely with the YWCA which is hosting the Over the Edge campaign at the Parker Center and Minot Lions Club as they host their Tryslothalon fundraiser and eyeglass drive. Finally, the Minot Stiletto group is also hosting their annual Stiletto Race where the funds raised will go to the charity or nonprofit of the winner’s choice. For those interested, Vitalant will be present for blood donations.

“We have it so that everything flows together and all of our stuff is more like one,” Bolton said. “It’s all very people-friendly.”

The festival will be hosted on three blocks of Main Street and will also include 1st Avenue and 1st Street.

There will also be plenty of food trucks and vendors available for people looking for a treat or wanting to check out different goods people have to offer.

The day on Main Street will begin at 10 a.m. with a salute to veterans. Then at 10:30 a.m., live performances will start.

“It’s always been really popular, we’ve had up to 3,000 people in the past,” Bolton said. “As long as the weather holds out, I think we’ll have more people than we’ve ever had.”

Bolton enjoys seeing downtown and the different organizations coming together to be a part of the bigger downtown picture.

Here’s a look at the different events working in conjunction with the Family Festival on Main:

— Tryslothalon: The Tryslothalon is a fun spin on typical 5k fundraisers that is hosted by the Minot Lions Club. Registration is $35 and will include two drink passes, sloth socks and a sticker. The crawl starts at 10 a.m. at Ben’s Tavern, then ventures to Atypical Brewery & Barrelworks and will end at Arny’s 2.0. Must be 21 and over to participate.

— Over the Edge: Whether propelling down the Parker Center or just coming to watch, the YWCA will be hosting their biggest fundraiser of the year with the Over the Edge campaign starting at 10 a.m. The event is open to all ages.

— Third Annual Stiletto Race: The Stiletto Race goes down Main Street and teams will compete to be the first across the finish line. The winning team decides which area charity or non-profit the proceeds go to. The race starts at 1 p.m.

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