Carytown Watermelon Festival promises family fun

Why, for the love of watermelon, would anyone with a hint of sanity intact venture near Carytown on Sunday?

For the love of watermelon, of course.

From one end of the district to another -- about 10 blocks in all, from the Boulevard west nearly to the Powhite Parkway overpass -- tents will be set up to sell the fruit from 2,500 watermelons during the 26th annual Watermelon Festival. The haul from Jeff and Angie Sears' Hanover Plant & Vegetable Farm will be scooped into bowls and sold for $1 each, with the money benefiting the Shriner's Children's Hospital.

If promoter promises hold true, more than 115,000 people will crowd the streets. The self-styled "Mile of Style" will show off a little of everything from storefront displays to sidewalk sales to food, with stops all along the way festooned in cheery watermelon décor. Yellow, red and green flags flying from light poles mark the spots.

"We're going for a higher-end look," said Micki Long, whose company, Three One One Productions, is in its second year of putting on the festival. "It'll be more like Arts in the Park, with more arts and crafts vendors, more handmade items."

The crowd will include about 80 bands on nine stages, 100 exhibitors set up on sidewalks and in the street and many of the regular merchants will offer specials.

"It's a family event," said Thom Suddeth, the president of the Carytown Merchants Association and the owner of the Road Runners running store. He's cutting short his family vacation so he'll be back in time for the festival.

Even with a crowd so thick at times it's hard to walk down the street, he said, it's good fun for all.

"It's not like New Year's, when you have to worry about alcohol," he said.

Suddeth, whose shop has been in Carytown since 1991, encouraged people to give the festival another try.

"Last year was a transition year," he said. The merchants association hired a new promoter, who put the focus back on family activities, he said.

"This is really the cornerstone of our events," he said.

A big part of the cornerstone is the ever-expanding children's area, which takes over the parking lot of the Cary Court shopping center with rides, slides and other fun things with the little guys and gals.

The whole thing is great for shopping and people watching, said Jaime Ridolphi, a sales clerk at the women's fashion store Pink and a veteran of 12 Watermelon Festivals.

"It's just a fun time," she said. "It's like the biggest street festival all year."

Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 775-8179 or .