OCEAN CITY, Md. - For the 32nd time, crowds descended on the Ocean City Inlet Friday to celebrate Springfest 2023.
Dark clouds overshadowed last year's events, even with live entertainment, craft vendors, and of course great food.
"Oh it was horrible. We lost a lot of money last year," said Nick Loucas, of Lucas Candies out of Rockland County, N.Y. "There was no people, there was no customers, and we only had two days to sell."
Springfest has had a tough last eight years. In 2020, the event was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In all of the seven other years, Springfest had at least one washout day, with four of those years seeing nearly one inch of rain or more during the evening.
In 2022, 1.60" of rain over two days soaked Springfest.
Patty and Tom Jarsulic of Millsboro, Del. recalled how miserable Springfest 2022 was.
"On year, maybe a couple years ago, we were here and the next day it was going to to be very bad," said Patty Jarsulic. "People were packing up to leave, the vendors."
Lemon Cored Beverage in Lewes, Del., actually sat out Springfest the past several years because of the weather, but this year they're feeling optimistic.
"It's just great weather this year round," said Logan Taylor. "The past few years has not been great, so we just wanted to take a stab at it."
Loucas echoed Taylor's optimism about Springfest 2023.
"So far this year is much better than last year," Loucas said. "It's going well so far, we're on our second day, and it's looking nice."
Jennifer and Randy Zakalik, visiting from Montgomery County, Md. were happy to be back in Ocean City.
"I'm excited for the vendors to, make some good money and show their talents, and everybody coming out, joining together as a community," said Jennifer Zakalik.
The forecast for the weekend is looking mainly dry, with just a chance of some showers late on Sunday.
Springfest is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Admission to the Ocean City Inlet is free.
