RIMERSBURG, Clarion County — Caped crusaders and masked menaces will return this year to Rimersburg's annual Cookie Daze along with longtime favorites such as the bed races and the car cruise.

The event returns Friday and runs through Sunday on Main Street in Rimersburg.

The 31st annual festival begins with a parade and fireworks Friday, followed by cart races and bed races Saturday. There will be a car cruise Sunday.

Throughout the weekend there will be food, rides and live music.

“The turnout was excellent last year,” said Nancy Carmichael, president of the Rimersburg Chamber of Commerce, which puts on the event.

“The weather was excellent,” Carmichael said. “We had about 350 cars on Main Street for the car cruise. We had 119 runners sign up for the 5K race, up from 84 in 2012. And we had 50 children sign up for the one-mile Fun Run before the 5K.”

Children up to 12 years old dressed up as their favorite superheroes or supervillains to take part in the Fun Run.

“We added something new last year that went over really well,” said Carmichael of the costumed run.

“We are really promoting the Fun Run this year,” she said. “Everyone who participates gets a T-shirt donated by Clarion Hospital/Rimersburg Medical Center.”

“The theme this year is 'Cookie Daze Goes Zoofari,'” said Carmichael, adding parade floats will have a theme of “a cross between a zoo and an African safari.”

The parade, which gets under way at 6:30 p.m. Friday, will feature drill teams, fire companies, floats, cheerleaders and the Union High School football team carrying an oversized American flag.

And Cookie Daze will still have the Saturday bed races and cookie cart races.

In a tradition whose origins are lost to the present day Cookie Daze organizers, teams of five people, four pushers and one costumed bed rider, race on Main Street, stopping to perform tasks such as eating a cookie then whistling before going on with the race.

Another attraction will be the cookie cart races at 3 p.m. Saturday on Main Street, Carmichael said.

There are at least two age categories for the racers of the Soapbox Derby-like cars, she said.

The car cruise will begin at 3 p.m. Sunday. and run to 6 p.m.

“We had 370 cars last year,” said Scott Campbell, who organizes the car cruise with Jason Jordan.

“It depends on the day, if it is nice out or not nice out,” Campbell said when asked about this year's participation.

Campbell said cruise entrants will register the day of the cruise at a tent in front of Clarion County Community Bank.

“We are giving away 300 T-shirts and 300 dash plaques on a first-come, first-served basis to those registering their cars,” Campbell said.

“We are also doing five cash giveaways at the end of the cruise,” he said.

<b>Friday</b>• Midway and vendors open, 3 to 10 p.m.• Parade, 6:30 p.m.• Street dance on Main Street after the parade• Fireworks at dusk.<b>Saturday</b>• Fun Run, 7:30 a.m. registration, 8:15 a.m. start• 5K Race, 8 a.m. registration, 9 a.m. start• Children’s ID cards, 9 a.m. in front of Clarion County Community Bank building• Cookie walk and bake sale at the Rimersburg Library on Main Street• Rimersburg Medical Center blood pressure screenings, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Northwest Bank building• Power Wheels Cruise-In, 10 a.m. registration, 10:30 a.m. start• Midway and vendors open, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.• Big Wheel Race, 11:30 a.m. start• Bed Races, 1 p.m.• Cookie Cart Races, 3 p.m.• Jimmy Swoggert Puppet Show, 4:30 p.m., United Methodist Church• Live music on Main Street with the band Sideshow, 7 to 10 p.m.<b>Sunday</b>• Midway and vendors open, noon to 7 p.m.• Corn Hole Tournament, parking lot of Heeter Lumber Co., 1 p.m.• Cookie Daze car cruise, 3 p.m.• DJ and movie in parking lot across from Veterans Memorial Park, 5 p.m.; movie starts at dusk