Woollybear Festival returning for 51st year

VERMILION — A popular tradition will continue this fall in the legacy of Cleveland meteorologist Dick Goddard. The Woolybear Festival, Ohio's largest single-day festival, will take place on Sunday, Oct. 8 in downtown Vermilion. "We look forward to bringing you the wonderful wacky fun you have all come to love and cherish with the Woollybear Festival," said Sandra Coe, the Vermilion Chamber of Commerce's executive director. The festival's 51st celebration could very well grow beyond the 100,000 attendance mark achieved in recent years, according to Coe. Vermilion's chamber hosts the event annually in partnership with Fox 8 Cleveland, the station Goddard worked for. The festival is a celebration of Goddard, his love for animals, the city of Vermilion and surrounding communities. "The quaint town of Vermilion will be bursting at the seams with families who have made the Woollybear Festival a historic event and household name for more than a half-century and counting," Coe said.