Christina Weaver had planned to grab some dessert at Junk Food Alley during the Three Rivers Festival on Sunday, but she wasn’t going to let the muddy terrain stop her from doing so.
Weaver said she was eager to come because her schedule didn’t allow her to postpone her visit to another day, as she waited for fried Oreos ordered from a vendor that specializes in funnel cakes.
“Those are my favorite things,” Weaver said.
The Three Rivers Festival kicked off last weekend and runs through Saturday.
Junk Food Alley, a staple of the annual nine-day festival that is open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., will be held in a new location this year: the grassy field on the north side of Headwaters Park’s East Pavilion. Organizers said its previous location, a paved area on the south side of the pavilion, was unavailable due to construction of the Lofts at Headwaters Park.
Other activities taking place at the new location include Children’s Fest and International Village, both of which are scheduled to take place Friday and Saturday at Purdue University’s Fort Wayne campus.
Wayne Duvall, a longtime vendor at Junk Food Alley in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said he and other food and beverage vendors appreciate the change because the larger space makes prep easier.
Customers who bought a variety of ice cream treats at Duvall’s Sunday Factory concession also said they liked the new location: Duvall said the previous store was cramped and crowded, and customers liked the shady, open grassy setting.
Crowds were not an issue on Sunday as skies remained mostly cloudy after a thunderstorm in the early afternoon.
The Vanness family of Huntington were among the festival-goers dining at a table under a big white tent. Lindsay Vanness, whose family of five ended up going elsewhere, had one criticism of Junk Food Alley’s new location.
“It’s so muddy,” said Vanness, who has three sons aged 1, 3 and 4.
Families had planned to take in other aspects of the festival, and most events went on as scheduled Sunday despite brief periods of inclement weather, according to the event’s social media updates.
“I told the boys, let’s play a game,” Vanness said.
For more information, including a schedule of events, visit https://threeriversfestival.org.
