MARTINS FERRY — Betty Zane Days kicked off Wednesday with food, crafts, inflatables and a 5K run and walk drawing people of all ages to Martins Ferry City Park.

Parents watched as their children enjoyed bounce houses and other carnival attractions. Some families and couples brought their dogs along to meet and greet other festival attendees.

A total of 125 participants signed up to participate in the 5K, sponsored by Martins Ferry Cross Country. Children as young as 6 and adults as old as 76 registered for the event, coming from communities all around the region. While many hailed from Martins Ferry, others came from Barnesville, Mingo Junction, Benwood, Moundsville, Wheeling and Dillonvale, among other locations. Results of the race were not yet available late Wednesday.

And while the race attracted an enthusiastic audience, those folks were later able to browse a wide variety of tents, booths and trucks set up by a number of vendors in and around the edges of the park.

Ciara Bom of Centerville, sole proprietor of Secondhand Stitching and Arts, had several different items for sale. She said she considers herself a “semi designer/artist.” Among her wares were jewelry and hand-embroidered hats and wall hangings.

“My best seller is my hand-embroidered jewelry,” she noted.

Bom said she makes all of her items “really modern.” She doesn’t use patterns and instead just creates her own designs, focusing on using colors that work well together.

The Martins Ferry resident who is originally from Centerville said she works primarily from home, but she does rent consignment space. This is her second year setting up at Betty Zane Days.

Another vendor selling wall hangings, key chains, key rings, children’s cups and tumblers is Dottie Snyder of Dillonvale. She has been running her business, Kansas Kreations, for about two years with her husband, Chris Harris. This is her first year as a vendor at the festival.

Ramona Barnes of West Liberty had an entirely different line of items for sale. Staffing a tent operated by Leona McCauley, she offered a selection of produce, including corn, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, berries, hot peppers, cucumbers, peaches, cantaloupes and more. The stand also has a variety of drink tumblers for sale.

Barnes said they have sold their fresh foods at the festival several times.

“We have always done really well,” she said. “We will stay for the whole festival, through Saturday.”

Hosted by the Martins Ferry Volunteer Fire Department with Unified Bank as its main sponsor, the festival continues daily through Saturday, Aug. 3, at Martins Ferry City Park. It features a beer garden and live entertainment.

A cornhole tournament will take place from 6:30-11 p.m. Friday next to the park. Registration for the tournament will take place from 5-6:30 p.m.

The annual Fireman’s Water Battle will be held on Fourth Street between Unified Bank and the MFVFD Ladder Station on Saturday immediately after the Fireman’s Parade.

Festival hours are 5-10 p.m. today; 5-11 p.m. Friday; and from noon to 5 p.m. and 6-11 p.m. Saturday. Musical entertainment will include The Russ Buchanan Band, Twice as Nice, Still Kickin and Bedrock. The beer garden will be open evenings during the festival. There will be fireworks after dark on Saturday.

The annual festival is named after the heroine of Fort Henry, Elizabeth “Betty” Zane. The Betty Zane Days Festival commemorates Zane’s courageous act during the American Revolutionary War when she reportedly volunteered to retrieve gunpowder by braving enemy fire outside the fort in 1782. She was able to resupply the defenders of Fort Henry at the site of present-day Wheeling. Zane later married and moved to Martins Ferry, where she and several family members are buried at Walnut Grove Cemetery.