John Jarvis

MARION – While main stage performances by country artist Craig Morgan, classic rock band Night Ranger and Panama: the Van Halen tribute band will claim much of the attention at the 2014 Marion Popcorn Festival, the three-day event will offer a number of other amusements.

Parade changes

A traditional crowd favorite during the festival, which runs 11 a.m. to midnight Thursday, Friday and Saturday, is the Orville Redenbacher Parade. The parade will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday on East Center Street at Forest Lawn Boulevard and end on South Main Street at Hill Street.

This year's parade will be smaller, probably about 220 units, but organizers hope it will run more efficiently and safely, parade director Mary Dutton said.

"We're down a little bit," Dutton said, suggesting the decrease from what typically is about 300 units is the result of two changes made this time around. "This year we have said we would not allow walkers in the parade, because they cannot keep up. The parade route is so long, and there's always been tons of little, bitty kids. It's way too much for them."

The result, she said, has been "mammoth gaps, and we've done everything we could think of to remedy that, and nothing has worked." She said parade officials have asked entrants that include children to have a pickup truck or some other vehicle that tired walkers can ride in, "but they don't do it. ... and we don't have near as many ball teams this year. I'm not sure what that issue is."

She said to improve safety, the parade organizers "are not allowing units to pass out anything along the parade route. We tried to do that with strict rules about throwing things. We had told them if they walked to the side of the unit they could pass things out, but we had people throwing things in the air, and it's a safety hazard, because little kids run out into the street to pick stuff up, so this year we said no passing out of anything."

That prohibition also may have reduced parade unit numbers, "but we had to do it for safety reasons."

She expects both changes to remain in place for future Popcorn Festival parades.

Bands for Marion City Schools and River Valley, Ridgedale, Elgin and Pleasant Local Schools will participate in the parade, as will the Marion Concert Band. The Aladdin Shrine Temple also will have its popular contingent in the event.

The parade will have about 25 floats and other vehicles that some might consider floats, "but they're not," she said, adding that such "floats" are welcome.

"If they have fun, and they play safe, that's what counts," Dutton said.

She estimated the parade, whose grand marshal will be Charlie Evers, would take 1½ to two hours.

Other stages

In addition to the main stage and its headline acts, which perform at 8:30 p.m., four other stages, just like the main stage, will feature free entertainment.

The Poppin' Party Stage in the beer garden on West Center Street has a lineup of Lonesome Train, Branded, Cherry Blonde, Radio Pirates, Radio Flyer and Left of Center.

The wine garden in Busby Park at Center and Prospect streets will offer entertainment including Grace Blackford, Preston Elswick, Damn the Witch Siren and Chris Costine.

Local showcase

The Community Showcase Stage on West Center Street in front of City Hall provides a showplace for local nonprofessional talent, and a new venue, Hometown Talent, also features nonprofessionals, including singers, dancers, disc jockeys and others, primarily ages 12 and older, Herr said. The Hometown Talent area will be in the area of South Main Street near the Ohio State Bank parking lot.

NWA Sports Entertainment Wrestling has been one of the larger audience draws at the Community Showcase Stage, she said.

"That's been really popular," Herr said, recalling a visit to the performance. "They set up a ring in front of the Showcase Stage, and it was packed."

Performers on the Showcase Stage will include Pleasant High School's show choir, Spartans in Motion; River Valley High School's show choir, River Valley Music Company; Ridgedale AudioFreakquency; Primrose Bellringers; JoAnne's School of Dance, Carol Ault's Dance Factory; Ohio Xtreme Athletic from Mid-Ohio Gymnastics; Diverse Moves; and others.

At the Palace

On an indoor stage at the Palace Theatre, visitors can attend a free 2 p.m. Thursday matinee featuring "The Pack Is Back," a production paying tribute to the Rat Pack of Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra.

Arts, competition

For festival-goers not in the mood for song and dance, a fine arts exhibit and sale, kiddie and adult pedal tractor pulls, a 5K run and fun walk, a Popcorn 100 Bike Tour, a corn toss tournament, a senior softball tourney at Garfield Park and a raffle drawing provide a variety of options. The raffle offers a chance at VIP packages for the Craig Morgan and Night Ranger concerts, which include two Kernel Seats, drink tickets, meals, autographed photo and meet-and-greet passes. Tickets for the raffle, and a 50/50 drawing, will be available at Center and Prospect streets.

In keeping with the festival's theme, a Popcorn Cooking Contest will be at noon Thursday in the Residential Home Association of Marion building at 205 W. Center St., where RHAM also will house the Senior Stop.

Explorers welcome

Herr, Downtown Marion manager, urged the public to enjoy the festival and "take a look at the improvements we're making, stop into a business they haven't been to before. A lot of the businesses do extra things for the festival."

She said she encourages the downtown merchants to stay open later during the festival to attract new business.

Visitors to the festival may be surprised at what they find, whether they're from out of town or local residents, she said.

"A lot of people from Marion think they know the downtown, but they really don't," she said.

jjarvis@marionstar.com

740-375-5154

Twitter: @jmwjarvis

Big name entertainment

Celebrating its 34th year, the Marion Popcorn Festival is the largest popcorn festival in the world with an annual attendance estimated in excess of 250,000 over the three-day festival, according to festival organizers.

The festival was inaugurated in 1981 based on an idea from a handful of local entrepreneurs and business owners looking for a way to bring attention to Marion.

According to the book "The Marion Popcorn Festival, a fun filled history" Pat Regules, one of the founders said, "Of course, we were thinking of something small."

The festival has been a success right from the beginning.

Mike Niclosi, another of the founders, said the the book, that the goal was to give festival goers a good show.

"The theme was that we were going to have the Popcorn Festival... along with that, we were going to have name entertainment free to the public. That was our main goal."

The festival has lived up to Niclosi's goal. Among the entertainers that have performed on the festival's main stage, located at the northeast corner of West Church and South Prospect streets, are Willie Nelson, Cheap Trick, Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, The Four Tops, Smokey Robinson, REO Speedwagon, The Oakridge Boys, David Lee Roth, Huey Lewis and The News, Styx, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Boyz II Men and Jo Dee Messina.

Pick up Wednesday's edition of The Marion Star for our annual Popcorn Festival pullout section with a downtown map, detailed information on this year's entertainers and more.

Marion Popcorn Festival Schedule of Events by MNCOOhio