The Murray community screams for free ice cream. Last weekend was the 14th annual Purity Ice Cream Festival held in downtown Murray. It lasted two days filled with fun for the kids and adults. Activities included jump houses, a vintage car show and live music.

“The festival has been a success story,” said Denna Wright, head of the Murray Main Street charity. She helped produce the event, along with Murray State students and other charities from the community.

“The festival is a lot of fun for everybody,” Wright said. “We have grown over the past year or two with the car show being both Friday and Saturday nights. Also, we plan to reach our goal to sell over 90 gallons of Purity’s Ice Cream. We couldn’t have done it without Purity ice cream and all the organizations around the community to help.”

Murray State students went downtown to see the festival including freshmen Alli Strong and Hailey Harrison.

“I am from a small town in Cincinnati and it’s very interesting and fun to see the community get together and do something like this,” Strong said.

Murray residents often attend the Ice Cream Festival year after year.

“I live in Murray, so I come every year,” Harrison said. “I always bring friends with me and their reaction is so neat to watch. The festival is something fun to do every year and helps bring the community together. The free ice cream is the best part about the festival.”

WYKO radio station was broadcasting live from the event.

“We appreciate the volunteers and some of the sororities and fraternities from Murray State helping us out with passing out the tons of ice cream and blowing up the inflatables,” said Tracy Cissell-Tubbes, volunteer with WYKO radio station. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

Story by McKenzie Willett, Contributing Writer