Downtown event Wednesday will be a celebration of sobriety and those in recovery
LANCASTER — Breaking the cycle of addiction to drugs and alcohol can be a difficult endeavor for many with a lot of obstacles and challenges to beat. But for one day, those in recovery can have some fun.
Sober Fest will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Wednesday near the downtown bandstand at Main and Broad streets. The event will feature a food truck, music, a children's zone and about 35 various vendors. The vendors will all be those in recovery also.
"Recovery is a hard thing and that process definitely deserves a celebration," event organizer Heather Lamkins said. "Whether someone has one day in recovery or 10 years in recovery we want to celebrate with them and reward them for their hard work."
Lamkins is a chemical dependency counselor for Integrated Services for Behavioral Health at 131 W. Main St.
There will also be recovery center representatives from different agencies in attendance to help those wanting information about recovery.
The event is free to attend and will go on rain or shine.
"What I wanted to do was create almost a block party feeling of a celebration for people in recovery, people wanting to be in recovery and people who maybe need resources just to start the recovery process," Lamkins said. "So it's just a big celebration of recovery and whatever journey you're on at the moment."
She said the day will be a busy one.
"For everyone that shows up it will be entertaining," Lamkins said. "It will be educational. It will be fun, a block party."
For those who want to get sober but have not yet, she said attending Sober Fest would be a great first step in part to see others in recovery.
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"It's also great for people in sustained recovery," Lamkins said. "Because if you need maybe mental health counseling, we've got that. We have a local NA (Narcotics Anonymous) chapter coming by. We have an Al-Anon chapter coming for friends and family (of alcoholics). So it's a little bit of everything for everyone no matter where they are on their path of recovery."
jbarron@gannett.com
740-681-4340
Twitter: @JeffDBarron
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Downtown event Wednesday will be a celebration of sobriety
