courtesy of the City of Gaithersburg
The Gin Blossoms headlined the 27th annual Celebrate Gaithersburg in Olde Towne Day on Sunday. Ideal weather drew steady crowds all day long.
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Residents rocked and rolled on Sunday at the 27th annual Celebrate Gaithersburg in Olde Towne celebration, a street festival where this year well-known rock band the Gin Blossoms made a headline performance.
"They were like one of my bands in high school that I listened to," said Mary Chang of North Potomac, 28, who grew up in Gaithersburg but attended the festival for the first time this year.
"It's excellent, it's fun to go down and watch the bands and everything," said Diana Hawk, 49, of Gaithersburg. "I live so close, it's a good time and I can hear the bands from my house."
Whether it was the clowns and balloon animals that enticed Hawk's 4-year-old granddaughter or the 15 restaurants that offered "tastes" of Gaithersburg, there was something for everyone at Sunday's festival. The City World Market showcased wares from 44 local international artisans and importers from hand-crafted jewelry to Peruvian hand-knitted shawls and sweaters. Sin Fronteras Mariachi Band, the Rembrandts and other musical groups also performed.
Hawk attended her 12th celebration with family and friends, who scheduled visits around the Redskins game and Gin Blossoms performance.
"I saw different people that you didn't used to see," Hawk said of this year's estimated 35,000 visitors. "They were from elsewhere, you could tell," she said, citing overheard conversations and accents.
About 50 city residents followed a 10-year tradition, raising their right hands at a ceremony as a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services representative swore them in as U.S. citizens. Junior Mayor Andy Sanchez, a Gaithersburg Elementary School fifth-grader who immigrated to the U.S. from Honduras with his family, led the newly legal Americans in the Pledge of Allegiance. New City Manager Angel Jones, who starts work on Monday, also made a public debut following a ceremony honoring residents, organizations and officials.
"Anything that brings people into the town is great," said Carol Berger of Gaithersburg who owns a nuclear consulting business in Olde Towne. "There's a lot of neat things to see and here and anything that brings people to the city to see what it has to offer is great."
Berger, a member of the city's Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, rode her bike to the event to check out the new bike valet service proposed by the committee.
She missed the Gin Blossoms, but met "a lot" of people along the way, she said."I asked everyone, ‘What did you like about it?" Berger said. "They all said: ‘the food.'"
