Toledo Lighthouse Festival

Every year, on the weekend after the 4th of July, the Toledo Lighthouse Society holds the Toledo Lighthouse Festival in Maumee Bay State Park.

It’s a small festival consisting of…

…a village of vendors…

…a stage for music and other activities…

…fish and chicken chunks…

…and a cool silent auction that had…

…lighthouse stuff galore (among other things).

The vendors taking part in the festival were also in the lighthouse mindset.

This was important, since the festival’s goal was for the restoration…

…of the Toledo Lighthouse, which was waaaaay out there.

Fortunately, they brought a model for those who didn’t want to pay $25 to ride out and see it themselves.

And we really didn’t want to ride out there. The day was getting hotter after just arriving from the Polish festival in Toledo. Without any shade nearby, we walked around the area, checking out the nearby lodge filled with tourists and pleasant air-conditioning.

Once cooled a bit, we headed back and admired…

…some great sand sculptures…

…and two filled beaches along Lake Erie and an inland lake.

We realized that the majority of cars there that day probably didn’t come for the festival.

And I’m sure they didn’t come for the chicken chunks.

They were there to beat the heat.

But there were probably curious tourists making their way to the festival just as festival goers drifted out to the beach. The festival’s location wasn’t only to give it access to the lighthouse. The already existing crowd helped it acquire greater aid.

Very win-win.