Star Valley Strawberry Festival to take place Saturday in Borden
May 23—BORDEN — A longtime festival will be returning this weekend with new organizers and a new location.
The Starlight Strawberry Festival, an event celebrating the beginning of strawberry picking season, has been a tradition in Southern Indiana for more than 40 years at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Starlight, but the festival has been canceled for the past two years due to COVID-19.
The church announced last year the event would be discontinued due to a lack of sufficient volunteers and other factors, but the Friends of Borden Community Park is now continuing the tradition, which has been renamed Star Valley Strawberry Festival.
The festival will take place from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday at Borden Community Park at 100 E. Main St. Attendees can enjoy food, drink, craft vendors, family-friendly activities, live music and plenty of fresh strawberries.
Brenna LaDuke, community coordinator for the Town of Borden, is one of the event organizers. As the festival moves from Starlight to Borden, "it is bringing the hill and valley together."
Close to 10,000 people have indicated on Facebook they are either going or interested in going to the festival, and many volunteers have signed up to help with the festival. This includes the Borden High School girls' volleyball team, which will help with parking.
"Everyone is very excited about not losing the event in the region, and we're all about building up the region with the event and collaborations," she said. "People are very excited that it's not going away."
LaDuke said some members of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church are also involved with the Friends of Borden Community Park. When the organization approached Rev. Wilfred Day of the church about taking over the event, he gave them his blessing.
The organization began the preparation for the strawberry festival in February. Borden Community Park is more than 41 acres, so "there's plenty of room" to host the festival, she said.
The Star Valley Strawberry Festival offers free parking and admission. The event will feature traditions of the strawberry festival, as well as some new additions. The usual "Build Your Own Strawberry Shortcake Bar" will be returning, as well as the strawberry smoothie booth.
A number of local businesses will be serving food and drink. My Cup Runneth Over in Borden will serve its chocolate-dipped strawberries, and Norma Jean's will serve its "famous Borden ice cream."
Joe Huber's Family Farm & Restaurant will serve chicken and dumplings, green beans and biscuits with apple butter, and Huber's Orchard & Winery will serve drinks such as strawberry sangria and strawberry wine.
The festival will feature about 70 arts and crafts, along with about 10 different food vendors. Activities will include bouncy houses and Farmer Steve's Petting Zoo — all-day passes will be available for $10 each.
Several live bands will perform at the festival, including The Monarchs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Other highlights include strawberry pie eating contests, bingo and a dessert auction. In honor of Memorial Day, the festival will present a memorial service for fallen veterans at 5 p.m.
LaDuke notes that many community organizations are involved with the event, including the Borden Braves Foundation and the Borden Lions Club.
