CentreFest is a prelude to SummerFest

The Fairview Park Shopping Centre Merchant's Association will be sponsoring its first CentreFest on Saturday at the historic Fairview Shopping Centre located on Lorain Road between West 215th Street and West 220th Street.

The event, which will run from noon until 4 p.m., will include a number of activities to appeal to all ages as well as numerous prizes and giveaways.

The idea behind holding the "Fest" on this particular weekend was to tie it in with the city's annual SummerFest (which will be held the following weekend) and create a whole week of activities, said spokesperson Eric Sipols, of Dodd Camera.

Coincidentally, it is also the same day as the Fairview Park Garden Club's Home and Garden Tour, which is likewise sponsored by the Merchants Association. The hope is that the two events will complement one another, as people "make a day of it," he said.

Although intended to promote the center and its merchants, CentreFest will be much more than a sidewalk sale, said Sipols.

The parking lot in front of Giant Eagle will be cordoned off in order to host Awesome Inflatables, a canopy housing Abracadabra Entertainment, face painting, balloon twisting, free hot dogs and pizza and more.

The sidewalks along the center will also be hopping. In addition to sidewalk specials and promotional booths offered by many of the merchants, North Coast Crafters will have stations set up to showcase and sell their wares.

The first CentreFest is one way for the Merchant's Association to promote the historic 62-year-old shopping center, which was the first of its kind. When it opened in the fall of 1947, it became the first strip shopping center in Cuyahoga County. It was renovated in the mid 1990s and is host to a number of tenants, many of which have been there 40-50 years....