1st Annual Cheshire Cheese Fest Drew Hundreds
CHESHIRE, Mass. — The inaugural Cheshire Cheese Fest on July 29 was deemed a success and will be bigger and better next year.
"The cheese fest was bigger than we initially expected," organizer Justin Kruszyna said. "Lots of positive feedback, the vendors were happy and did very well."
The festival featured local cheese makers as well as other vendors and was preceded by a 5K fun run. The event was a celebration of the Cheshire Mammoth Cheese — a 1,200-pound cheese wheel the town made and delivered to the newly elected President Thomas Jefferson in 1802.
Kruszyna estimated 800 people attended the festival that was held on the Cheshire Elementary School grounds.
"We raised about double of what the event cost to host with expenses," he said.
The funds will be used by the Cheshire Community Action Team, or Cheshire CAT, to fund other community events.
"We intend on hosting other free community events and support the children in town," Kruszyna said. "Such as Cobble Fest, family fun night, and a father-daughter dance."
He said some of the funds will be reinvested into next year's festival that Kruszyna said will have even more vendors and activities.
Next year's plans include a cheese cave — a tent filled with cheese makers.
"I am reaching out to cheesemongers to come and speak about different cheeses," Kruszyna said. "I also will like to have a demonstration and a cheese making class."
And there is every intention of making a scale model of the Mammoth Cheese that went to Washington.
Tags: cheese fest, cheshire cheese, community event,
