Anyone attending the Wheat Ridge Carnation Festival on Saturday was greeted with a swath of vendor tents, carnival games and amusement park rides.

The three-day festival, an annual celebration in Wheat Ridge for over a half century, took over Anderson Park starting Friday night, bringing with it parades, live music, fireworks and an array of vendors and amusement park attractions.

Those attractions lured the crowd from the festival entrance, past the walkway lined by dozens of clothing sellers, outreach organizations and stands selling fair foods.

“We were playing all the games, we rode pretty much every ride, it’s super nostalgic for me,” said Isaac Lickona, walking down the main street alongside Gabriella Loeffler, who was holding a brown stuffed bear the two had won at one of the carnival games. 

Saturday was the first time the pair had ever attended the festival.

“It’s so great,” Loeffler added. “I went to amusement parks (growing up) but we didn’t have many carnivals like this, so this is fun for me. I’m having a great time.”

Begun in the late 1960s, the festival originally was an homage to the carnation industry in Wheat Ridge, which had 32 different growers at the time, according to the festival’s website. While there aren’t any active carnation growers in the city anymore, the festival became so entrenched in the community that it remains under the original namesake.

In addition to the standard festival schedule, the Carnation Festival also featured unique food-related events, including a pancake breakfast, a spaghetti dinner, a pie baking contest and a chili cookoff.

But for a young girl named Lily, at the festival with her family, the amusement park rides were the only thing catching her eye.

“I really like the festival, but I really like the rides,” Lily said. “My favorite is the swing, it feels like you’re in a tornado but it’s kind of fun.”

The festival, free and open to the public, will continue through Sunday afternoon.