July 14 – BRISTOL – Paused in the past only by the Spanish flu and the COVID-19 pandemic, Bristol Homecoming for 2024 returned from Thursday to Saturday.
Saturday was the day of the parade, which started around 2pm. Before that, event organizers were on hand at Congdon Park, where carnival rides and food trucks were being set up and people were following after the parade.
Homecoming president Stacie Rogers said late in the morning the homecoming was going well.
“The festival itself had a good Thursday night, hot as it was,” Rogers said. “It’s really crowded.”
The event has a history that dates back 130-150 years, with the aforementioned Spanish flu from the beginning of the 20th century, together with the more recent COVID-19, being the only factors that suspended it. It started as a small celebratory festival at the Bristol Fruit Mills, which no longer exists, and then evolved into an annual event.
“The annual Bristol Homecoming is one of the oldest community festivals in the state of Indiana,” a press release stated. “Although the exact date of the first year is unknown, it was probably between 1879 and 1883. Known in the 1880s as the “Harvest House” and the “Harvest Jubilee”, it was held in early autumn, usually in September, as a time to celebrate the harvest before the long, cold winter sets in.”
Jamie Thrams, from Bristol, was one of many who lined up on Vistula Street for the parade to proceed from its staging area around Hilbish Boulevard.
“The same people sit in the same places every year,” she noted. “It’s going well. Everyone looks forward to this homecoming every year.”
To learn more, visit www.visitindiana.com/event/bristol-homecoming-festival/13971 or “Bristol Homecoming” on Facebook.
Steve Wilson is news editor at The Goshen News. You can reach him at steve.wilson@goshennews.com.
