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Bands from all different genres filled the air with their melodious tunes - everything from a New Orleans funk band to a mariachi group, from a garage band to the Temple High School jazz band, from a contemporary Christian group to old school rock ‘n’ roll.
Mayor Bill Jones III was out participating in the day’s events, and said he was happy to see families enjoying themselves. He and Kenny Martin are two of the organizers behind the event, along with a committee of 25 and countless volunteers. The festival wouldn’t have been possible without the help of those many volunteers who dedicated their time this year, Martin said.
The city created the festival to unite the community and to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Temple, Jones said. Ken Higdon, president of the Temple Chamber of Commerce, said he believed the festival was a hit.
“It’s been great. We’ve had a fantastic crowd and I feel we’ve moved to a new level,” he said.
The festival is a time for families to gather and celebrate and it’s something the chamber of commerce wants the city to be proud of, Higdon said. He estimated that 15,000 to 20,000 people turned out for the event. By the end of the festival, organizers ran out of wristbands to give attendees and had to start using stamps.
Martin agreed this year’s event was a success.
“There’s been some growing pains along the way, but above all it exceeded my expectations,” Martin said.
There are already plans in the works for next year’s festival and organizers are hoping to bring a headliner on Sunday to draw a bigger crowd, Higdon said. Next year, Martin said, organizers are hoping to get even more of the community involved and he said he looks forward to seeing the event growing bigger each year.
The Bloomin’ Temple Festival will be the third week of April next year, which falls on April 17-19, 2009.