Westminster Cracker Festival returns for with chili, chowder, parade and dog art auction
WESTMINSTER – A favorite community celebration is back at full strength.
After a scaled-down event last year due to lingering COVID concerns, the annual Westminster Cracker Festival returns to Village Square at full force for its seventh year on Saturday, Oct. 15.
That means that several popular features will be back for this year’s festival, including the kids play area, the Cracker Queen and the Parade of Princesses, and – perhaps most notably – the wildly popular chili and chowder competition.
“It’s wonderful because I would say that our biggest complaint last year was that we didn’t have the contest, and we didn’t have a way to feature our Westminster crackers,” said Joe Serio, founder and organizer of the event. “Out of everything, people certainly noticed it was missing last year.”
More: Westminster Cracker Festival returns to Village Square Saturday after year off
Participating restaurants in this year’s chili and chowder contest include Blueprint, KRO’s on the Common, Tavern on Central, and the Brew Yard, Serio said.
The annual festival, a free and kid-friendly event, has evolved into a kind of unofficial homecoming day for residents who had grown up in town but have not relocated across the United States, according to organizers.
Westminster dogs up for auction
This year’s festival will also mark the official end of the Westminster Dog Show, a public art project sponsored by the Westminster Village Foundation that invited participants to decorate and display a fiberglass canine in front of their home or business. Several of the dogs, which have been prominently displayed up and down Main Street since last summer, will be auctioned off following the conclusion of this year’s festival, and the rest will be returned to their owners.
Serio said the dog show, which was established to raise funds for projects aimed at beautifying the community, has been a successful campaign.
“Having my business in the center of town, I have noticed virtually every day families going up and down Main Street and taking pictures of their kids with the dogs,” said Serio, who owns and operates Westminster Pharmacy. “The dogs are part of the landscape of the community.”
A few of the dogs would remain on permanent display at their present locations, Serio added, but town officials were currently working on plans for another public art project to attract visitors to the center of the community.
Cracker Queen ready to rein
Vanessa France, an instructor and co-owner of Zen Yoga and Wellness, was selected to be this year’s Cracker Queen. She said the annual festival was a true community event.
“I love that it brings all the families together,” France said. “We live right next to the Cracker Factory, so my kids are always on Main Street, but to have all their friends with them and being together and enjoying so many activities and supporting local shops, it means a lot to everyone. Everyone looks forward to it, especially in my household here.”
France will lead the Parade of Princesses, in which all children are invited to dress up in royal clothing and take part. Participants are requested to meet outside Horrigan Flooring at 1 p.m. to prepare for the parade, which will begin at 1:10 p.m.
More: Royal Procession at 2019 Westminster Cracker Festival
A nod to the queen
Two town elders, Stan Skamarycz and Rauha Torni, have been named Honorary King and Queen of the event. The pair will enter the festival via a convertible to the tune of “God Save the Queen,” which Serio said was an especially apt musical choice considering the events of the past few months.
“This year out of all years it’s a special time to honor what is part of our heritage,” he explained. “We are the town of Westminster, so we do have a little nod to where we came from.” (According to the Westminster Historical Society, the town assumed the name “Westminster,” a name “rooted in traditions of the minister in old England,” in 1759.)
Food, music and a 5K
In addition to the food and several local craft vendors, live music has also been one of the major draws of the annual event, according to Serio. Eavesdrop, the Tribe, and Mr. Strickland were among the bands scheduled to perform at this year’s festival.
As per tradition, festival day will kick off with a 5K run/walk along a route that takes participants through the town and past hills and lakes, beginning and ending at Village Center.
More: Cracker Festival a celebration of community
The festival was established in 2015 as way of celebrating the town and its residents, while showcasing one of the community’s most recognizable exports – Westminster Crackers, according to Serio.
The popular crackers were produced in the town from 1828 until the 1990s, when the manufacturing operations were moved to Vermont. The company’s iconic building, however, remains in downtown Westminster.
Serio said the annual celebration’s enduring popularity had exceeded even the wildest expectations of the festival’s original committee of organizers.
“The greatest joy we’ve gotten has been the support of the business community, especially from Aubuchon Hardware, which was our founding sponsor,” he said. Other sponsors include the Wachusett Brewing Co., Fitchburg Welding, IC Federal Credit Union, and Wachusett Mountain Ski Area.
This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Westminster dog art auction part of 2022 Cracker Festival on Oct. 15
