By Cadence Redmond
Despite a rainy start to the day, the 16th annual College Park Day was filled with community members of all ages checking out all the activities, booths and live performances at the College Park Aviation Museum and Airport on Saturday.
Enslow, a Baltimore-based artist, led a live Taylor Swift tribute band, performing songs by Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter and Zara Larsson
The music got people tapping their feet and dancing along. A young boy and his mother danced in a circle, mouthing the words to each other as the band played.
People walk through the College Park Day entrance on Oct. 3. The festival is held annually and features live music, arts and crafts, and carnival-style games. Photo by Josh Hananel. 
A child smiles after receiving face paint at College Park Day on Oct. 3. Photo by Josh Hananel. 
Children ride a swinging ship ride at College Park Day on Oct. 3. Photo by Josh Hananel.
The University of Maryland featured a variety of booths, including the Language, Experience and Development lab Autism at UMD and the Aphasia Research Center.
The Aphasia Research Center was recruiting subjects for their experiment, according to Olivia Churchill, the lab manager. They had some graduate and master’s students joining them, including second-year electrical engineering doctoral student Kabin Loganathan.
“I’m hoping to walk around a little bit, and I think we’re thinking of buying something from over there, but I’m just hoping it doesn’t rain,” Loganathan said.
There was a wide range of vendors, from classic food vendors with funnel cakes and lemonade to craft vendors selling hand-crocheted items. Even the City of College Park had booths for their different departments.
At the entrance, there were mimes, people on stilts, a juggler and other performers. Grace Lohr, one of the performers, learned to juggle when she was 15, according to the 27-year-old freelance circus performer.
“I’m here with Big Biz Entertainment, which is the company I’ve been working for almost my whole life because my dad’s a clown,” Lohr said. “So, you know, grew up in the family business, you end up being a clown yourself.”
College Park Day also had plenty of engaging activities: bracelet making, painting, pumpkin decorating, bounce houses, sitting in planes and helicopters and more.
Most attendees were families with young kids, bouncing from activity to activity. A four-year-old girl, Emery, had a sparkly orange face paint design on and was enjoying decorating pumpkins.
“[My favorite part is] the pumpkins,” Emery said.
There was something at College Park Day for everyone in the community, and it was good to see everyone gather together, according to two new attendees who had never gone to the event before.
Featured Image: The audience gathered around at the Taylor Swift tribute band featuring Enslow during College Park Day. Photo by Cadence Redmond.