Once again, the Cypress Festival drew tens of thousands of visitors to Oak Knoll Park on Saturday as the city celebrated its heritage and community spirit with the Cypress Community Festival.
Once again, the Cypress Festival drew tens of thousands of visitors to Oak Knoll Park on Saturday as the city celebrated its heritage and community spirit with the Cypress Community Festival.
Now in its 32nd year, the festival continued its traditions of a wide variety of entertainment, car show, chili cook-off, youth rides and plenty of food, fun and arts and crafts. Prior to the festival, the city also hosted its annual 5K and 10K races through the streets of Cypress.
The event drew 1,734 participants in all, more than 230 more runners than last year. Now touted as the largest one-day event in Orange County, the festival is not only a place to enjoy a full day of events, it is a scene that is the place to be for area representatives. Some notable names in attendance were OC Supervisor, John Moorlach, Fullerton Mayor, Sharon Quirk-Silva, Los Alamitos Mayor and State Assembly Candidate Troy Edgar, former Buena Park Mayor Art Brown, and Dr. Robert Simpson, Cypress College President.
Cypress Councilman, Leroy Mills said the festival shows the best of the city of Cypress and its citizens, and that effort was recognized by the representatives he spoke with.
“The Cypress Festival is a major attraction in the region. The highest accolades were expressed by all,” Mills said.
Planning for the festival usually begins around the first of every year as hundreds of volunteers are eventually used to help bring the summer event to fruition. There are also local businesses and groups who not only sponsor the event, but bring even more to the table. Cypress Church was on hand handing out free bottles of water festival guests on a hot day. It is the effort of so many that make the day possible.
“The 2012 Festival turned out to be a greater success than the already high expectations that we had. It was great to see the thousands of people who came out on Saturday enjoying themselves, and helping us celebrate the city that we are proud of. Our community groups worked hard to make the event happen, and I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to every individual that gave his or her time in service to the Cypress community,” Cypress Mayor Douglas Bailey said.
