Hundreds of Norwalk residents gathered together at Norwalk City Park over Labor Day weekend for Norwalk Music Fest, an all-day event including eight bands and musicians, games, and vendors.

A smaller group of people worked behind the scenes to make the event happen. Norwalk Hometown Pride is a nonprofit organization that works to create a sense of pride in the community.

One of the leaders of the organization is a sophomore at Norwalk High School. Jackson Zeigler is co-chair of Hometown Pride and said the group works to make Norwalk the best it can be.

“It’s a lot of community engagement,” he said. “There are a lot of people here; you just get to connect with your town.”

Norwalk Hometown Pride works to benefit Norwalk in multiple ways, Zeigler said. 

“We do fundraisers, and in return from the funds, we better the community with things like city park benches and veteran’s memorial,” he said. 

Many local volunteers joined Hometown Pride to make the event happen. Lucinda Sperry said she volunteered to sell merchandise such as T-shirts for the festival.

“It’s a great community event that exposes people to local music and local vendors,” she said. “It’s a good time.”

The Norwalk Music Fest event featured a solo and duo stage as well as a main band stage. Corbett Reeves, secretary of Hometown Pride, said he was in charge of booking the bands for the event.

“We start planning as early as February and March,” he said. “It’s great to have things to do in Norwalk, without having to go to Des Moines or West Des Moines.”

Reeves said the music fest is a great way to get involved in Norwalk.

“It is an outstanding opportunity to get out of the house and join together as a community,” he said. “You can see people you maybe haven’t seen for a while, in a community atmosphere where there are food and beverages, and fun things for the kids.”

Reeves said this free event becomes a great option for families to make memories in their hometown.

“It’s really just a great opportunity for the whole family to come out,” he said. “They can do something right here in their hometown.”