The Northern Indiana Lakes Festival is bigger than ever this year with more than 30 activities and events spread over two days and two locations.
The Lakes Festival is this weekend with Saturday’s events taking place at Center Lake Municipal Park in Warsaw, and Sunday’s events taking place at Winona Lake Park and The Village at Winona in Winona Lake.
Admission to the festival is free.
There will be educational activities, tournaments, sporting events, entertainment, door prizes, a business expo, food vendors, swimming, kid’s crafts, live music, fishing, canoeing and more. As in the past, festival attendees also will be able to receive free aluminum water bottles.
While registration for some events has passed, there will be a day of registration available for the following activities: Grace College Bass Club’s Classic Fishing Tournament, the Water Waddle Kids 1-Mile Fun Run, the ICDI Run for Orphans 5K, KCV Cycling Club’s Mountain Bike Time Trials, the Louis Dreyfus Cornhole Tournament and Center Lake Preservation Association’s Warsaw Aqua Mile. Some of these events will require a registration fee.
The public swimming beaches will be open both days as well. Weather forecasts of sunny skies and warm temperatures, combined with low E. coli levels measured by the Kosciusko County Health Department this week, promise to provide a great day of swimming and playing in the lakes.
For those who like to stay dry on the water, there will be canoeing available both days, and kayaking, paddleboarding and boat rides available Sunday.
Kids will enjoy face painting, magic tricks, a Build-A-Boat Workshop, fishing, a nature and music show, and many educational activities.
Carnival food connoisseurs will enjoy kettle corn, elephant ears, Italian ice, corn dogs, pizza, lemon shake-ups, cotton candy and more.
Music enthusiasts will enjoy live music and a radio remote.
Sailors and others who enjoy non-motorized water sports will love the small boat messabout and playing nautical bingo on the lake.
Shoppers get an extra day of shopping at The Village at Winona as the shops are open Sunday afternoon.
The lakes festival is organized by Grace College through the work of Kosciusko Lakes and Streams, a community research center at the college, and other departments and staff at the college.
Parking and specific event information is available at www.lakesfestival.org
The Northern Indiana Lakes Festival is made possible by several major local sponsors including Biomet, CenturyLink, K21 Health Foundation, Louis Dreyfus, Metzger Tucking, Silveus Insurance Group and Zimmer.
For more information on the festival, see pages 4C and 5C in today’s edition for a full schedule and more information.
