A cherished summertime event is underway once again in Blenheim.
Blenheim Cherry Fest kicks off Thursday, July 14 and runs through Saturday, July 16.
The three-day event features carnival rides, music, buskers, sidewalk sales, and the Canadian National Pit Spit Championship.
Event organizer J.P. Huggins says they are also bringing back a popular karaoke competition Thursday night called Cherry-O-Ke.
"We started it probably like six or seven years ago... and people went crazy for it," said Huggins. "People came out with their own karaoke discs and CDs and there are people who actually have choreographed performances that go along with their songs."
While the weather looks good for the weekend, Huggins said a cold snap earlier this year meant the special cherries they use for pit-spitting were especially hard to get ahold of.
"They had a frost... normally, (Delhaven Orchards) collects about 180 bins of the Montmorency sour baking cherries, but this year, they only collected three bins," said Huggins.
The Pit Spit tryouts run from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and the competition will take place at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
You can find more details and a full schedule of events on the Blenheim Cherry Fest Facebook page.