The high temperatures certainly didn't keep people away from opening night of the annual Highwood Festival Days on Thursday.
"I think we're a little bit shy of 5,000 in terms of population," Highwood Days Chairman Lenny Innocenzi said. "But today alone we probably had about 4,000 people show up to the fest. So it's a good North Shore party."
Innocenzi is in his 24th year of running the festival and says he treats it much like he would his own business, trying to provide the most appealing options to local residents in terms of food, rides and entertainment.
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Highwood Days featured 11 different food vendors this year, including items from Bob Chinn's Crab House to traditional cotton candy stands.
For entertainment, a different band took the stage each night. Thursday night featured Billy Croft & the 5 Alarm Country Rock Band. Friday featured local band 8 Miles South. Saturday featured Steve Kessler and The Fenderskirts, and Sunday showcased four different bands, including Vagabundo De Tierra Caliente, Grupo Bien, Nueva Era and Spoken Four.
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For the fourth straight year, the festival also raffled off a Vespa that was donated by 10 local sposors, including Consignments, Etc., Carpets of Highwood, Washington Gardens, Maury Kravitz, Atty at Law, Mahoney Plumbing, Del Rio, Buffo’s, Jordan Joseph Encore, Diambri & Caravello, Law Offices, Beck’s Heating & Air Conditioning, and Signs Now.
"Without the sponsors we couldn't do a lot of this," Innocenzi said. "They sponsor the bands and entertainment and the stage. And four years ago we started raffling off a Vespa. This year we found 10 sponsors to buy the Vespa and we're going to sell 3,000 tickets for that. So the sponsors are just great people."
To get a feel for just what the fair was like, click on the video link above.
