{"id":206484,"date":"2026-05-31T20:34:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T01:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=206484"},"modified":"2026-06-01T20:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T01:34:15","slug":"2026-peony-festival-set-to-line-downtown-van-wert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/05\/31\/2026-peony-festival-set-to-line-downtown-van-wert\/","title":{"rendered":"Peony Festival set for this Friday, Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VW independent staff<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s become a staple of downtown Van Wert during the first Friday and Saturday of June \u2013 the Peony Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s edition will begin on Friday June 5 and continue the following day and this year\u2019s festival will include some traditional offerings along with some exciting new additions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the highlights include a car show, a kids meet and greet with Peony Festival Queen Meah Johnson and her court, the first Van Wert Live Feel Good Friday concert of the season at Fountain Park, a craft and vendor fair, bike rodeo, and the always popular Grand Jubilee Parade. New this year will be a local talent showcase, along with the second annual \u201cLight Up the Night\u201d drone show over Fountain Park.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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The Peony Festival typically draws a big crowd to downtown Van Wert. The 51st annual edition of the popular festival is this Friday and Saturday. Bob Barnes photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Here is the schedule of events for the upcoming festival, which typically draws a large crowd to the downtown area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday, June 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 a.m. to 8 p.m. \u2013 craft and vendor fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 a.m. to 9 p.m. \u2013 Peony Cafe open  (proceeds benefit the Peony Festival)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 a.m. to 10 p.m. \u2013 Food Truck Alley open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12 p.m. to 2 p.m. \u2013 face painting and tattoos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1-10 p.m. \u2013 Peony Beer Garden open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

2-4:30 p.m. \u2013 free inflatables for kids 12 and under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2-7:30 p.m. \u2013 games, activites and prizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4-4:30 p.m. \u2013 kids meet and great with Queen Jubilee and her court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4-8:30 p.m. \u2013 Peony Festival car show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4-9 p.m. \u2013 carnival games and putt-putt golf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 p.m. \u2013 Kim Hohman\u2019s Danceworks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5-8 p.m. \u2013 face painting and temporary tattoos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6-8:30 p.m. \u2013 free inflatables for kids 12 and under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7:30 p.m. \u2013 Van Wert Live\u2019s Feel Good Friday concert \u2013 Ladies of the 80\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, June 6<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 a.m. to 8 p.m. craft and vendor fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. \u2013 children\u2019s bike rodeo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. \u2013 face painting and temporary tattoos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 a.m .to 3 p.m. \u2013 Peony cafe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 a.m. to 9 p.m. \u2013 carnival games and putt-putt golf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 a.m. to 10 p.m. \u2013 Peony Beer Garden open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Food Truck Alley open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12 p.m. \u2013 children\u2019s chalk art contest, judging at 12:45.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12-4 p.m. \u2013 games, activities and prizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1-4 p.m. \u2013 free inflatables for children 12 and under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1-2 p.m. \u2013 foam pit party, ages 3-7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2-3 p.m. \u2013 foam pit party, ages 8-12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 p.m. \u2013 parade lineup begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 p.m. \u2013 Grand Jubilee Parade begins along Main St.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6-9 p.m. \u2013 Peony Cafe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the parade or out of supplies \u2013 children\u2019s inflatables, face painting\/tattoos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the parade to 7:30 p.m. \u2013 foam pit party, ages 3-7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 p.m. \u2013 introduction of grand marshal and flowers and full bloom honorees, plus announcement of parade winners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7:30-8:30 p.m. \u2013 foam pit party, ages 8-12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7:30 p.m. \u2013 local talent showcase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9:15 p.m. \u2013 second annual \u201cLight Up the Night\u201d drone show over Fountain Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VW independent staff It\u2019s become a staple of downtown Van Wert during the first Friday and Saturday of June \u2013 the Peony Festival. This year\u2019s edition will begin on Friday June 5 and continue the following day and this year\u2019s festival will include some traditional offerings along with some exciting new additions. Some of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-08 23:36:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206484"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206541,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206484\/revisions\/206541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}