Blueberry Festival pushes through rain

PLYMOUTH, Ind. -- The Blueberry Festival brings about a half a million people to Plymouth every year, but this year it almost got rained out.

"I was pretty nervous.  I was like no I hope the rain stays away," said Blueberry Festival Co-Chair Laura Arriaga.

Arriaga said she was praying for the rain to quit, because she did not want a repeat of last year.

"Oh from Hurricane Isaac coming through, ya we were.  Last year we had to close, because we had a thunderstorm come through right befor our headliner Joe Diffy came on," said Arriaga.

She said the festival did close from 3-5:50 pm, but it was only for safety precautions.

"Because of the incident with the state fair last year, we are very aware.  We have radar in the buses up here that we are constantly checking," said Arriaga.

If the weather would have gotten severe, she and the Blueberry Festival Staff would have been ready for it.  They have an action plan in places and they are not taking any chances with their stages.

"Our stages went through inspection this year to make sure we comply with the new laws," said Arriaga.

The crowds dwindled a little bit during the festival rain delay.

"A lot of people got the assumption that the festival was closing," said Arriaga.

But some people did decide to stick it out through the rain.

"Since it was till going on, we decided to brave it out and see if it worked out and it did," said fair-goer Karin Goffinet.