Broadway Our Way Festival 2024: Another successful event
Apr. 23—The 2024 Broadway Our Way Festival on Saturday was a huge success from perfect weather to vendors to bands and more.
Broadway's Main Street was closed off between West Harrington and McLeod avenues — a little less than a half-mile — and it stayed jammed for the better part of the day with people who enjoyed shopping, eating, music, games and more.
'This was another success event for Broadway," Mayor Donald Andrews said Monday. "The street festival continues to grow each year with more vendors."
A record-setting number of booths line the festival area offering a variety of items for sale — ranging from T-shirts and baseball caps, cologne to cutlery and a palette of sparkling, neon colored hand-crafted jewelry.
All the designated vendors spaces were taken, and organizers had to make room for four more, Andrews told the Broadway Town Commissioners last month.
The Lee County Board of Elections had a booth this year, giving residents the opportunity to register to vote while the county's Democrat and Republican parties each had booths touting party candidates.
No festival would be complete without scrumptious food offerings and this one was no different.
"We had 18 food trucks/truck vendors," Andrews said.
The parking lot beside the U.S. Post Office was converted into a food-truck court with about five trucks offering cuisine that included burgers, seafood and donuts and Mexican fare.
And there was more.
Food trucks were set up along Main Street between vendor booths with offerings including barbecue, fried food including cookies and donuts, cheeseburgers, soft drinks and lemonade.
James and Holly Byrd and their daughter, Khole, sat on the curb along Main Street as they finished eating some of the delicious offerings.
"We're checking out the food options," Holly said. "There seems to be a lot more vendors here this year."
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At the McLeod Avenue end of the festival area, people walked among restored vintage vehicles — a staple of the festival.
"The Classic Auto Show had over 65 cars on display," Andrews said.
Among the vehicles was a 1963 Mercury Comet, a 1966 Chevrolet Impala SS Convertible, a 1966 Buick Wildcat and several Chevrolet Camaros from the late 1960 into the 1970s.
Mike Talbott polished his 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 and spoke about the car, which he's owned for 32 years.
"I had to tow it home," he said. "I've spent years restoring it and keeping it up. It's not a hobby — it's a passion."
The music stage was set up in the Community Building parking lot and featured local bands.
Under a canvas top set up along the edge of the parking lot, Michael Lamirand, owner of Blue Line Aerial Innovations, was maneuvering a drone along Main Street, documenting the activity from overhead. The drone zipped back and forth, up and down, filming the activity.
Lamirand has had his business for about four years and has used the drone to document real estate properties, Christmas lights and, of course, festivals.
The Broadway Our Way Festival was a success by every measure.
"Twenty-plus teams competed in the Cornhole Tournament. The entertainment was fantastic throughout the day with North Tower capping off the event with Jammin' on Main. The Kid's Zone was crowded all day long," Andrews said.
"It's always hard to estimate the crowd, but I think it will be comparable to the 2023 Broadway Our Way Festival, which data shows had about 7,800 attendees.
"I want to thank everyone who came out, our vendors, our sponsors and a big thank you to all the volunteers on the Broadway Our Way Festival Committee who worked hard to organize the event," Andrews said.
