By Matt Clevenger

[email protected]

TROY — The Troy Strawberry Festival will return to the levee and downtown Troy on Friday, June 2, Saturday, June 3, and Sunday, June 5, celebrating the festival’s 47th year with an expanded DORA area that will include cider and beer sales in the levee area for the first time.

“This year is a first for the festival,” Chairperson Tammy Walkup said. “This is the first time ever that we will have alcoholic beverages for sale for the Strawberry Festival on the levee side.”

“We will have our DORA footprint extended, so people will be able to buy cider and beer on the levee close to where the levee stage will be,” she said. “The DORA was activated last year, but we did not sell anything, and people could not take their beverages in their DORA cup across the bridge.”

“Berries Rock” is the theme for this year’s festival. It will also feature expanded live entertainment with performances on three separate stages throughout the weekend including live music and the Pop Rocks jump-rope team, as well as Zoomba and belly dance instruction, a pie-eating contest and other activities.

“We’ll have the stage on Prouty Plaza, which is downtown, and then we have the community stage,” Walkup said. “Then we have a larger levee stage where we’ll have musical entertainment running the entire weekend as well.”

Strawberry-themed products, ranging from jam, jelly and pies to doughnuts, salsa and brats will be available throughout the festival, which will include food vendors benefiting local non-profit organizations and over 150 craft vendors. Last year, local non-profits made approximately $400,000 during the festival weekend, Walkup said.

“We usually get over 200,0000 people over the course of the weekend,” she said.

“Last year was just insane, I think because it was the first huge festival that we had post-COVID,” Walkup said. “We were slammed, and the non-profits ended up really benefiting.”

The festival will start with the Strawberry Jam from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. downtown on Friday, June 2, featuring live music, kids’ activities and special evening hours at local shops and restaurants. A limited number of Strawberry Festival vendors will also be open.

“It’s a fun event,” Walkup said. “We will be dying the fountain red that night; we’ll have a ribbon-cutting for the 2023 festival.”

“The Strawberry Jam is geared more towards the community,” she said. “We don’t advertise it a lot; we try to make it about local people.”

The full festival will kick-off at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 3, and will be open until 9 p.m. The festival will re-open at 10 a.m. on Sunday and close at 6 p.m.

Special events will include the Little Mr. and Miss Pageant, the Superkids obstacle courses at the stadium, a tennis shoot-out, a 5K-10K run and the annual car show and cruise-in held at Troy Community Park. Registration information for special events is available online at www.troystrawberryfest.com.

“We have two shuttle locations,” Walkup said. “One is at the fairgrounds, and one is at ITW; people can park and catch a ride downtown.”

Pepsi is an official sponsor for this year’s festival; community investors include Clopay Building Products, Premier Health/Upper Valley Medical Center, ConAgra Foods and Kettering Health and Dungan and LeFevre. Executive circle investors include First Financial Bank, Collins Aerospace, AES Ohio, US Bank, Hobart Brothers/ITW, Superior Credit Union, Pella and Korrect Plumbing.

Originally started by the Troy Chamber of Commerce in 1977, the Strawberry Festival will celebrate its 47th season this year.

“It just keeps growing,” Walkup said. “What started out as a small idea to help non-profits has turned into what it is today.”

“It’s just gotten bigger and better every year,” she said.

2023 Troy Strawberry Festival Entertainment:

Prouty Plaza Stage (downtown by the Mayflower)

Saturday, June 3

10 to 11:00 a.m. Opening ceremony

10:15 to 10:30 a.m. Lion Dance

10:30 to 11 a.m. Mike Hemmelgarn (children/ventriloquist)

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Little Miss and Mr Contest

1:15 to 2:30 p.m. Honey & Blue (R&B/soul/original)

3 to 4 p.m. Ryan Mundy Band (country)

4:15 to 5:30 p.m. Driving Force (classic rock)

5:45 to 7 p.m. Yachtopia (adult contemporary)

7 to 8:30 p.m. DV8 (classic rock/party music)

Sunday, June 4

10 to 11 a.m. Declare on the Square (worship music)

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Jerry Mullins (classic rock)

12:45 to 2 p.m. Eric Jerardi band (blues/rock)

2:15 to 3:30 p.m. Shannon Clark and the Sugar (americana)

4 to 5:30 p.m. TOUCH (Motown)

Levee Stage (below the Gazebo on the lower levee)

Saturday, June 3

10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Jimmy Felts (variety)

12:15 to 12:45 p.m. Mike Hemmelgarn (children/ventriloquist)

1 to 2 p.m. Jerry Mullins (classic rock)

2:15 to 3:30 p.m. Brooke Klopfenstein Duo (country rock)

3:45 to 4:45 pm Amy Newhart Duo (variety)

5 to 6:45 p.m. Chad Cremeans (country)

7 to 8:30 p.m. Step Latter (rock)

Sunday, June 4, 2023

10:30 to 11:15 a.m. Five Points Cloggers

11:30 a.m. 1 p.m. Pat Buzzard (classic rock/country)

1:15 to 2:30 p.m. Pearl Street Duo (classic rock)

3 to 5:30 p.m. LYD Duo (R&B/soul/party)

Community Stage (concrete pad on lower levee past Gazebo)

Saturday, June 3

10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Pop Rocks

11:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Kung fu/F/tai/chi

12:45 to 1:15 p.m. McGovern Irish Dancers

1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Pie Eating Contest

2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Belly Dance Body Fitness

3:45 to 4:30 p.m. Pound Fitness

4:30 to 5 p.m. Pilates with Cathy

5:30 to 6 p.m. Color guard clinic

6 to 6:45 p.m. Cardio drumming

7 to 8:30 p.m. Dance party

Sunday, June 4

10 to 11 a.m. Pop Rocks

11 a.m. noon McGovern Irish Dancers

Noon to 1 p.m. Belly Dance Body Fitness

1 to 2 p.m. Zumba Fitness

2:15 to 3 p.m. Veraflow

3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Belly Dance Body Fitness

4:15 to 5 p.m. Cardio drumming

2023 Troy Strawberry Festival Events:

Children’s Shuttle Run + Dash

Friday, June 2

N. Market Street Bridge & Water Street during the Strawberry Jam

Children’s Big Wheel Race

Friday, June 2

N. Market Street Bridge & Water Street during the Strawberry Jam

Tennis Shootout

Saturday, June 3

Troy Community Park

Pie Eating Contest

Saturday, June 3, 12:30 p.m.

Near Community Stage on the lower levee (arena side)

SuperKids

Sunday, June 4

Troy Memorial Stadium

5K – 10K Classic Run

2 Mile Strawberry Shortcake

Sunday, June 4

Riverside Drive – Troy Community Park