Donald Teuma-Castelletti
CHAPEAU Aug. 26, 2017
The streets of Chapeau were taken over by a range of different activities, as the town celebrated the annual Islandfest event.
Hosting live music, vendors, a home-run derby, an antique car show, duck race and whole ton of other events, the fourth year of the festival had something for everyone. This year, however, the festival was run by Sarah Adams, a first-time coordinator for the party.

“Everything worked out really well,” said Adams, admitting that she hoped to be a bit more prepared at set-up time.
Starting preparations back in May, the planning has taken a lot of her time, especially not knowing exactly how much work it would take. Adams estimates she spent at least 15 hours each week leading up to the Saturday event.
Lucky for her, she wasn’t the only one in the driver’s seat. As the event was in partnership with the Lion’s Club, recreation association, municipality and Chapeau Agricultural Society, many events were planned and coordinated by the respective committee.
New events for this year’s Islandfest included free ice cream cups, a home run derby with a pitching machine, all of the Agricultural Society’s events and the giant inflatable section for the kids, where they climbed inside plastic bubbles and rolled on the water or pushed around giant bowling pins.
The Lion’s Club also hosted the ever-popular duck race in the early afternoon.
Towards the supper hours, Adams said she was very pleased with the turnout, and already had plans for making next year bigger than ever.
“It’s a learning curve,” she said. “Next year we want a two-day event, and three-days after that.”