Timeline: International Festival through the years

Marchers carry flags in an International Festival from the 1960s or '70s. (Photo courtesy of the Black River Historical Society.)

• 1967: Inaugural International Festival is held. Ukrainian princess Irene Kychun is crowned queen.
• 1968: Up With People opens festival. Serbian princess Simone Maravich is crowned queen.
• 1969: Polish princess Irene Sidorowitz is crowned queen.
• 1970: Chinese princess Sandra Pong is crowned queen.


Dancers perform on the main stage at the 1974 International Festival. Behind them are the tents where the bazaar was held in its more than 30 years at Sheffield Center in Sheffield Township. (Photo courtesy of the Black River Historical Society.)

• 1971: The festival highlights a nationality and an industry for the first time. Italian is the spotlight nationality and U.S. Steel Cuyahoga Works is the spotlight industry. Irish princess Cindy Smith is crowned queen.
• 1972: Hungary is the spotlight nation, and Greek princess Helen Thelas is crowned queen.
• 1973: Poland is the spotlight nation, and Mexican princess Veronica Gonzales is crowned queen.
• 1974: Puerto Rico is the spotlight nationality, and Irish princess Mary Daugherty is crowned queen.
• 1975: Greece is the spotlight nation, and Slovak princess Deborah Zelina is crowned queen.
• 1976: Instead of a spotlight nationality, the U.S. bicentennial is spotlighted. Italian princess Josephine Maffei is crowned queen.
• 1977: African American is the spotlight nationality, and Irish princess Patricia O’Connor is crowned queen.
• 1978: Slovakia is the spotlight nation, and CenturyTel is the spotlight industry. Puerto Rican princess Melissa Rodriquez is crowned queen.
  

  1981 second runner-up Chris Super and first runner-up Shelly Nagy enjoy the festival.

• 1979: Slovenia is the spotlight nation. Greek princess Angela Marousis is crowned queen.
• 1980: Ukraine is the spotlight nation. Polish princess Cindi Bennett is crowned queen.
• 1981: Mexico is the spotlight nation. Japanese princess Brenda Carroll is crowned queen.
• 1982: Ireland is the spotlight nation. African American princess Deirdre Kolb is crowned queen.
• 1983: Scotland is the spotlight nation. Hungarian princess Dawn Silva is crowned queen.
• 1984: The city of Lorain’s 150th birthday is spotlighted. Irish princess Carol Ann Mackin is crowned queen.
• 1985: Macedonia is the spotlight nation. Mexican princess Debbie Delgado is crowned queen.
• 1986: The spotlight is on the 20th anniversary of the festival. Italian princess Angela Orlando is crowned queen.
• 1987: The 200th birthday of the constitution is spotlighted. Armenian princess Tracy Nishanian is crowned queen.
• 1988: American Indians are the spotlight nationality. Hungarian princess Amy Labos is crowned queen.
• 1989: Jewish is the spotlight nationality. Syrian and Lebanese princess Melissa Jenkins is crowned queen.
• 1990: Serbia is the spotlight nationality. Puerto Rican princess Vanessa Rodriguez is crowned queen.
  

  1991 International Festival queen (Italian princess Michelle Mahilo) and her court. (Photo courtesy of the Black River Historical Society.)

• 1991: Russia is the spotlight nation. Hungarian princess Michelle Mahilo is crowned queen.
  

  Terry Anderson, who'd been released just months earlier from nearly seven years held hostage in Lebanon, was grand marshal of the 1992 parade. The national media decended on Lorain to see him, and newspapers reported that hotel rooms around the county had sold out. (Photo courtesy of the Black River Historical Society.)

• 1992: Terry Anderson is grand marshal of the parade. The Phillipines is the spotlight nation. Hungarian princess Ildiko Szucs is crowned queen.
• 1993: India is the spotlight nation. Cypriot princess Angela Nicolaou is crowned queen.
• 1994: Germany is the spotlight nation. Churches are featured as the spotlight industry. German princess Debbie Prinz is crowned queen.
• 1995: Vietnam is the spotlight nation. U.S. Steel/Kobe spotlighted as it turns 100. Italian princess Angela Iemma is crowned queen.
• 1996: Puerto Rico is the spotlight nation. Vietnamese princess MyAn Zagorsky is crowned queen, beating her identical twin sister, MyLe.
• 1997: Poland is the spotlight nation. May Co. is the spotlight industry. Ukrainian princess Tina Pohuliaj is crowned queen.
• 1998: Philippines is the spotlight nation. Lorain safety forces are the spotlight industry. Puerto Rican princess Natalie Soto is crowned queen.
• 1999: Hungary is the spotlight nation. Goodwill Industries is the spotlight industry. Macedonian princess Elizabeth K. Nickoloff is crowned queen.
• 2000: The festival bazaar moves from Sheffield Center to Veterans Memorial Park in Lorain. Russia is the spotlight ntion. BFI Industries is the spotlight industry. Ukrainian princess Natasha N. Reidy is crowned queen.
• 2001: The festival spotlights the 225th birthday of the United States, and the industry spotlight is on 100 years of the Lorain Public Library. Greek princess Christina Smith is crowned queen. She is the daughter of 1972 queen Helen Thelas.
• 2002: Croatia is the spotlight nation. Lorain Palace Civic Center is the spotlight industry. Russian princess MaryBeth Morris is crowned queen.
• 2003: The festival moves to its current home, Black River Landing. Mexico is the spotlight nation. Lorain County Association of Realtors is the spotlight industry. Polish princess Jackalyn Velasquez is crowned queen.
• 2004: Admission is charged for the first time to get into the festival bazaar. Cost is $1 a day. African American is the spotlight nation. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is the spotlight industry. Hungarian princess Hillary Hoak is crowned queen.
• 2005: Greece is the spotlight nation. Community Health Partners is the spotlight industry. Irish princess Breanna Kopis is crowned queen.
• 2006: Italy is the spotlight nation. United Steelworkers of America Local 1104 is the spotlight industry. Slovak princess Courtney McVey is crowned queen.
• 2007: Ireland is the spotlight nation. Black River Historical Society is the spotlight industry. African American queen Amber Washington is crowned queen.
• 2008: Armed forces are spotlighted. The Lorain County Metro Parks is the spotlight industry. Mexican princess Natalie Rodriquez is crowned queen.
  

  A Mexican dancer at Lorain International Festival 2008.

• 2009: Puerto Rico is the spotlight nationality. Easter Seals Northern Ohio is the spotlight industry.