Westminster Flower and Jazz Festival Continues to Grow

has grown over the years to become one of downtown Westminster's premier Main Street events.

Westminster's Director of Parks and Recreation Ron Schroers said that the event was conceived to bring people to downtown Westminster. Starting in 1991, the event was initially a juried craft show. Schroers said juried shows can be difficult to manage so about 18 years ago, the event evolved into a more community-focused festival.

Schroers said that the event also served to honor mothers and grandmothers.

"It always happened the day before Mother's Day but we really started promoting that when we started to add diversity to the event with jazz entertainment and more vendors geared towards mom and grandmoms," Schroers said. "So it's like their day."

Schroers said around 1996 event planners got the idea to honor moms and grandmoms by giving them a plant and button as a gift from the city of Westminster.

"Even today, people run to get their free flowers," Schroers said. "Droves of people run to the information booth and they are not there to get information, they are there to get their flowers."

Initially the event took up one block of Main Street, but Schroers said about four years ago, they expanded the event to accommodate more vendors. The festival has always taken place on East Main Street from the railroad tracks to Longwell Avenue. Now the event crosses over the railroad tracks and covers a block on West Main Street from Johansson's Dining House to BB&T Bank.

"We have been turning away vendors for a long time," Schroers said. "Business owners on that side [of Main Street] have wanted us there and it just made sense ... we gave the west side life just like the east side had."

The Flower and Jazz Festival kicks off with a 5K walk/run at the Wakefield Valley Trail off Route 31 by Avondale Run Road. Schroers said the 5K is done in partnership with the Carroll County Youth Services Bureau, and money raised through the event benefits the Youth Service Bureau and the Friends of Westminster City Recreation and Parks.

The event includes a 200-yard dash for children under 6, beginning at 9 a.m. (free), followed by a 9:15 start for the one-mile walk or run for ages 7 and older (free).  The 5K run/walk begins at 9:30 and is for all ages. The cost for the 5K is $20 per person, or $35 per couple. To register, visit www.westminstermd.gov. You can also register onsite the day of the event.

So there is no excuse not to go, there is something for everyone at the Westminster Flower and Jazz Festival. The event will take place Saturday, May 12 on Main Street from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.