You would think after 37 years that Moorestown Day wouldn’t change all that much.
But a record number of vendors, beautiful weather, more food choices and even a camel went a long way in making this year’s edition the biggest yet.
“We finished with 218 vendors which is definitely the most we’ve ever had,” Moorestown Day organizer Jeanette Habina said.
“The event stretched all the way down to Chester Avenue for the first time just to accommodate all the people that wanted to be there.”
The annual celebration is a long-standing Moorestown tradition that features local merchants with sidewalk sales, food from neighborhood establishments and entertainment from local theater company performances.
Concern that more than 90-degree temperatures would keep crowds away was quickly dismissed as people filled Main Street as early as 9 a.m.
The crowd continued to grow after the Scott Coffee Moorestown Rotary 8k finished.
“We benefitted from having a lot of creative vendors this year. They brought interesting things to sell and were really excited to be a part of the event,” Habina said. “One vendor brought a dunk tank! We didn’t provide that, they did.”
More food options were a priority for Habina so she was excited Fat Donkey BBQ and Mary’s Mobile Diner set up shop for the event.
Pulled pork sandwiches and hot dogs proved to be popular items throughout the day.
Another big attraction was the kids’ zone that gave children the opportunity to ride a camel, pet other animals or jump to their heart’s content in one of a few different bounce houses.
“It was really awesome to see how much the kids enjoyed that,” Habina said.
Cooperation with Lincoln Technical Institute to provide parking as well as shuttle service, and Moorestown Police in establishing a new traffic pattern, made it easy for patrons to navigate the busy event.
“Great cooperation helped us a lot this year,” Habina said. “We tried some new things this year to improve the event and received a lot of help.”
Reviews of the event have been nothing but positive.
“We’ve never received this much amazing feedback,” Habina said. “Not just emails but phone calls telling us how great an event it was.”
The idea that Habina would take a break and enjoy all the positive feedback is quickly dismissed as she met with her team the following morning to begin planning next year’s event.
“Not a minute’s rest,” Habina said with a laugh.
Successes from this year’s event will be remembered for next year and new ideas are already in the works.
“While we were walking down Main Street, the ideas for next year already started flowing,” Habina said.
“We hope to add a stage for local bands, dancers to perform and since we already have a kids’ zone, we’d like to add an area specifically for teens behind Antonio’s Grill or somewhere else along the strip.”
Just more things to look forward to next year.
