By Ashley Mackin | SDUN Editor

Hillcrest is going to saddle up this Sunday, Oct. 16, for the first Hillcrest Hoedown on University Avenue between Normal Street and Vermont Avenue. The Hillcrest Business Association rounded up all the pieces for a “daisy” (excellent) hoedown running from 1 – 8 p.m., including line dancing, barbeque, western garb, a petting zoo, a street side saloon and, of course, a mechanical bull.

“Our special events committee decided that a fall themed festival would be a perfect fit for the neighborhood,” said Lisa Weir, communications and marketing manager for the Hillcrest Business Association. “The idea of a hoedown took on so many different meanings to so many of us that we immediately fell in love with…the possibility of a Hillcrest Hoedown.”

The Urban Kickers, a local clog and line dancing team, will teach a line dancing class and provide entertainment on their stage at the event. The stage will be located at University Avenue and Richmond Street. Jason Coleman, artistic director of the Urban Kickers, said, “we encourage people to increase their fitness level through dancing and also increase their spirit through dancing.”

Coleman added, “We found out this is a first year festival, and wanted to participate. We wanted to share our love of clog dancing and line dancing…” In addition to dancing, the performance stage will have bluegrass, country and rockabilly music.

Local businesses will be opening their doors for hoedown-friendly food and dressing their staff in western-style clothes for the event. “Many of our neighborhood businesses have chipped in big time to support and become involved in this event,” Weir said. “We’ve got… Brazen BBQ offering a delicious and tantalizing BBQ pit the day of the festival. We’ve got Baja Betty’s and Gossip [Grill] theming out their staff in cowboy garb weeks before the event, and even neighborhood bars like Numbers, Rich’s, Eden, The Range and Mo’s [are] throwing pre-parties to celebrate the Hillcrest Hoedown.”

The petting zoo, near the corner of Vermont Street and University Avenue, will include baby farm animals. The hayride was unexpectedly canceled, but walking around is still the best way to see everything.

In the place of the traditional beer garden will be an official street side saloon, where participants can find and ride—you guessed it—the mechanical bull.