//
Photo: JonRidinger, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The flagpole in front is an iconic 150 foot tall structure built in 1893. The steel criss-cross design looks more like a radio tower or oil derrick than a modern flagpole. It is seen as a symbol of the city of Ravenna, and efforts in the early 2010s to have the flagpole torn down and replaced were met with huge opposition by residents.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
It starts downtown with a long parade and a day of fair food such as corn dogs, funnel cakes, and ribs. There are live bands all day. In late afternoon the official part of the festival packs up and moves east of town to Sunbeau Farm. The downtown part of the festival is free, but the Sunbeau part of the festival requires a $5 admission fee. At Sunbeau, you can watch hot air balloons take off and a fireworks display at dusk. At night, generally, Sunbeau is the 'family friendly' part of the festival, with many people instead staying downtown after a day of filling up on greasy fair food to have drinks at the downtown bars, which are always packed on this day.
are unique, historic brick buildings built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, commissioned by H.W. Riddle, owner of Riddle Hearse Co. The original Riddle Block is on the southeast corner of the intersection of Main and Chestnut, and once held and opera house. The other Riddle blocks are numbered and scattered throughout downtown. The words "Coach Hearse" are faintly visible on one of the Riddle blocks that can be seen when entering downtown from the south on Prospect.