Two-day Mum Festival expected to draw thousands

PHOTOS BY KURT IMMLER | BGNN

The 35th annual Barberton Mum Festival is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27 and 28 at 615 W Park Ave., Barberton. This year’s theme is “Catch the buzz … Bee there.” 

By CHRISTINA McCUNE
BGNN managing editor

BARBERTON  Make a beeline to bee-autiful Barberton this weekend to settle your gaze on the brilliant blooms at Lake Anna Park and take in the sweet sights, smells and sounds of the popular buzzy and busy annual festival.

An extra buzz surrounds the 35th annual Barberton Mum Festival set for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27 and 28 at 615 W Park Ave.

Brian Coffman, a city employee who has a degree in landscape architecture, has outdone himself once again for the city’s largest festival, which attracts between 28,000 to 32,000 people.

He has designed a masterpiece with thousands of chrysanthemums strategically selected and planted to portray a fun theme for festival goers.

This year’s theme includes flowers within the flowers as well as those ever-important bumblebees and a butterfly and more. Every year, Coffman decides on the theme and other employees come up with a catchy title. “Catch the buzz … Bee there” is what the garden is labeled this year.

Coffman and a couple of talented volunteers who are in the business of gardening and growing help set the stage for the remarkable centerpiece of the Mum Festival.

Special varieties that may be taller than others and bloom fuller and mature later in the season are carefully selected and planted near the beginning of summer. About 15,000-17,000 mum plugs go into the designs each year. They are hand planted by Coffman and his crew, including seasonal workers and people in the city. The gardens are watered in the weeks following. The garden is planned out so full color is on display Mum Festival weekend.

“There’s a whole science behind what we do,” said Tammy Simmons, assistant director of Barberton Parks and Recreation, which organizes the event. “It’s not just throwing some mums in there and they grow,”

The weekend is a huge undertaking and planning takes place all year. Simmons had a list of people to thank. She said many people make the event possible including city employees, sponsors, volunteers, participants, and those who work behind the scenes.

Volunteers are still welcome to sign up this week online at tinyurl.com/2025MumFestVolunteer. About 140 to 180 people volunteer each year.

A common question Simmons and others receive each year is what happens to the flowers in the mum garden after the festival is over? There are reasons why they can’t sell them or dig them up, including the manpower required and also the soil has been specially treated making the plants not suitable for home gardens. Simmons said organizers are doing something new this year and they are working with a company that will compost the plants.

“We are partnering with a company called Rubber City Reuse,” Simmons said. “They are going to take all the mum material out of the garden when the gardens are done … and compost it so it can be used for something else. We’ve not done that before.”

Simmons said she learned about the local group at a state parks and recreation association conference and contacted them.

Many of the vendors and entertainment people have enjoyed previous years return to this year’s festival. This year there are 125 crafters, 45 commercial vendors and 25 food vendors.

An interactive map is available on the Barberton Parks and Rec website at tinyurl.com/2025MumfestMap.

The map shows the location and information for potted mum sales, parking, shuttle location, road closures, entertainment locations/times, commercial, craft and food vendor locations, eating areas, medic/first-aid and bathrooms.

A special pullout section on pages 9-12 in this week’s edition of The Barberton Gazette & Norton News also has all the information festivalgoers need.

A shuttle service will be available from the Barberton Middle School parking lot off of Brady Avenue to bring people to the festival.

Entertainment includes the University of Akron Steel Drum Band both days, stilt walkers and a fire show, Touch a Truck, pumpkin carving, and Chippewa Lake Water Ski Team shows. The Great Lake Anna Canoe Race returns this year. New Horizons Band plays at the gazebo Sunday afternoon.

Color began to show itself in the mum garden the week before the festival. Temperatures are expected to be pleasant this weekend in the 70s with clouds possible.

“We’re starting to see a lot of color which is good,” Simmons said last week. “We want to have high color by the Mum Fest time.”

The day before the festival, Simmons works with Cliff Franks of Buckeye Drone to fly over and take a photo that she can print out and put in a frame in the garden along with the history of the Mum Festival and Lake Anna so people can see a bird’s eye view of the entire design and learn more about the event and the area.

Festivalgoers and anyone who loves mums can bring some of the beauty home. Simmons said the festival will have about 6,000 potted mums available to sell. They have potted mums, patio pots and hanging baskets. The mums sell quickly. The annual mum pre-sale is 1-7 p.m. Sept. 25 and Sept. 26 at the corner of Third and W Lake Avenue next to the mum gardens. Mums are for sale 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the festival Saturday, Sept. 27 and 28. The sales area will close early if the mums sell out. For more information, visit www.barbertonparksandrec.com.