The Taste of Montrose, Wags N Whiskers and Kids N Kritters are all coming to Honolulu Avenue on May 1.

By Charly SHELTON

Sunday, May 1 is an important festival day. It is the first day of a new month that is traditionally also known as Floralia, a flower festival in Ancient Rome, Walpurgis Night in Germanic nations, the Gaelic Beltaine, and Calan Mai in Wales, with many other festivities in many other places around the world. In America, May 1 is May Day, imported from Western Europe. These are all festivals that mark the beginning of summer with celebration and fun.

In the Crescenta Valley, every summer begins with several classic “festivals” that the community has come to know and love that this year fall on the same date. The annual Kids N Kritters, Wags N Whiskers and Taste of Montrose events all take place on Sunday, May 1 in the Montrose Shopping Park.

“This is our 10th year hosting Taste of Montrose and we are looking forward to everyone coming out and enjoying the day along with the Kids N Kritters, Wags N Whiskers and, of course, the Harvest Market events on Honolulu Avenue,” said Robin Goldsworthy, president of Prom Plus and one of the organizers of the ToM event. “It is one of the biggest fundraisers we hold and we rely on folks putting it on their calendars in order for Prom Plus to reach our financial goals.”

For the ticket price of $20 for adults and $10 for kids 4-10 (kids under 4 eat free), guests can sample the foods from over a dozen local restaurants in a culinary tour of Montrose and the surrounding area.

Prom Plus holds the ToM event each year as one of the many ways it raises money for the actual Prom Plus event, an afterparty for Crescenta Valley High School prom-goers. This afterparty gives kids a safe place to go after prom where they can have fun with their friends and still be supervised. Goldsworthy said that Prom Plus needs to really have a big final push to raise funds this year to ensure that it can keep all the activities for the guests of the event.

“Every year I look forward to people coming to this family-friendly event,” Goldsworthy said. “It’s great to see familiar friends and new faces.”

In addition to the Taste of Montrose, the Wags N Whiskers and the Kids N Kritters events have been rolled into one massive, animal-and-family-friendly festival in Montrose Shopping Park.

“The Wags N Whiskers event [is made possible] with the participation of the Glendale Humane Society,” said Dale Dawson, event coordinator with the Montrose Shopping Park Association. “They’re going to have about half a dozen booths out there, pet adoptions and whatnot. And they have the Wags N Whiskers walk, where you strut your mutt in the morning.”

The Wags N Whiskers is combined with the Kids N Kritters event, held by the MSPA. There will be a petting zoo, the Wild Wonders Exotic Animal show, the first ever kids fashion show and more. For more information on the full offerings, see the Business section of this week’s paper.

While the aim of the Kids N Kritters event is to provide family fun, Dawson encourages guests to go take a look at the shops and restaurants of Montrose while they are open on Sunday.

“You can come and spend money or you can come and just watch,” Dawson said. “There’s an awful lot going on that doesn’t cost a nickel.”

  Charly Shelton