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Claremont Family Festival on Wednesdays to entertain local audiences

The Claremont Family Festival, now in its third year, brings together familiar music, families and food.

"I think it's great. My kids get a chance to feed the animals that they usually only see on TV," said Jaimie Lewis of Chino Hills while she held her 1-year-old daughter Maya and her 2-year-old girl ran to the fence surrounding the Giddy Up Ranch petting zoo.

The free festival, with a petting zoo featuring pony rides, rabbits, goats, ducks and chickens takes place from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays from June through August on Second Street between Indian Hill Boulevard and Oberlin Avenue.

The festival is a public and private partnership between the the city, the Claremont Chamber of Commerce, and the non-profit organization and beneficiary project Xela AID: Partnerships for Self Reliance which gives essential services to families and children in need, officials said.

Claremont-based musical act Jonny Come Lately, formerly of Upland, also performed for an audience who watched them from white chairs, the curb or as they looked at the various festival booths.

Lead vocalist and guitarist Ismael "Izzy" Loya fronted the ska, rockabilly, blues and rock fusion of the group.

Loya, 20, said the band had previously appeared at the festival and he noticed more people at the June 8 event.

"We want to get as many people to listen to us as possible," Loya said about why the band performed at the festival.

The group is working on a new album and were selling stickers and T-shirts. More information on the group can be found on Facebook.

Some food booths featured at the festival sold Uncle Tim's Best West barbecue sauce from Highland, burritos and tacos from Claremont's Rincon Azteca, or JDM Bakeshop which featured treats like the popular 7-layer bar and red velvet cupcakes.

Upland's Jennifer Mikolasko, 25, was head baker of JDM Bakeshop, which bakes its goods in Pasadena.

"I'd say it's going really well," Mikolasko said, adding layered bar and red cupcakes were the most popular items. "We have a lot of customers coming back our second week."

The week before June 8 the bakeshop sold 400 items, Mikolasko said   Read Full Article...