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Downtown Frederick's 28th annual In The Street festival will take place a little earlier than usual this year, as it has been moved from the first Saturday in October to the second Saturday in September.

The festival began in 1983, after Market Street was reopened following several months of significant renovations. Then-mayor Ron Young started the inaugural festival as a celebration of the reopening.

"The event is definitely very weather-dependent," said Celebrate Frederick marketing and events coordinator Jennifer Martin.

Celebrate Frederick is a private, nonprofit corporation that works in conjunction with the city to plan special events at a low cost to the public. Upon taking into consideration September's warmer temperatures and other festivals that are held around the county in early October, coordinators moved the event date up, she said.

The fourth annual "Light the Creek" event will kick off festivities at 6 p.m., Friday, at the Carroll Creek Amphitheater. A $5 cover charge will allow entrance into the event, which will feature beer, wine, food and live music.

Activities will continue at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, with the running of the Market Street Mile. Activities and vendors will be set up throughout the city from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Live music will also be featured in five different locations. According to Peggy Dufour, the president of the board of directors for Celebrate Frederick, the date change has prompted an increase in vendor applications.

"We are actually having to turn away vendors at this point," she said. "We're full." She said there will be more food vendors and exhibitors at the event than ever before.

The change in the festival date has also caused Saturday's events to fall on Sept. 11, or Patriot Day. A commemorative ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. on the 7th and Market festival stage.

Downtown churches will ring their bells for three minutes. It will be "quite a wonderful moment to mark Patriot Day and its significance," Dufour said. "As far as we know, all the downtown churches are participating," she added.

Mayor Randy McClement, Frederick city Chief of Police Kim Dine and Fire and Rescue Services Assistant Chief Doug Brown will speak. A moment of silence will be held, followed by the performance of the National Anthem.

For the remainder of the day, "a wide gamut of different things" will be available to patrons, Martin said. The city will be split up into blocks, each block with a different theme. For example, The Creek Side Market, which will host area crafters and artisans, will be set up on the south side of Carroll Creek Linear Park. A sports block, art block, history block, health and fitness block, going green block, kids block, public safety block and gaming block will also be featured. They will span Market Street from the All Saints Street intersection to 7th Street intersection.

A flat $5 rate for the day will be available at the All Saints Street, Carroll Creek, Church Street, Court Street and West Patrick Street parking decks.

Another change to this year's celebration is that the "On the Deck" party "went up the creek," Martin said. Since coordinators could not get permission to hold the festival wrap party on a city parking deck, as it has done in past years, the "Up the Creek" celebration will take place from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Carroll Creek Amphitheatre. The 21 and older party will feature beer, wine, food and live music.

cpomeroy@gazette.net