"Erected one week a year, with a flaming torch match head, as part of the town's annual Blue Stick Match Festival, celebrating Wadsworth's (former) top employer," the Roadside America reports.

"In Wadsworth, the World's Largest Matchstick is now on permanent display! Street parking is right next to it.

"The annual Blue Tip Festival every June starts with the lighting of a 17 ft. tall match during the Blue Tip Parade. The match burns 24 hrs a day for the duration of the festival."

"The “world’s largest matchstick,” which is displayed downtown only for the duration of the festival, serves as a larger-than-life reminder of that legacy," the Ohio Magazine reports.

"Made from wood and hollow from the ground up to its painted-blue metal head, the match runs on propane, and its lighting is part of the opening night parade.

“We really play it up,” says Powers. “We have a parade marshal, and we put them in a bucket truck and raise them up to the top of the match.” — Frances Killea

"The Blue Tip Festival is a five day celebration of the Wadsworth, Ohio community," the Wadsworth Blue Tip Festival says.

"It starts with a world class parade and the lighting of a giant, twenty foot blue tip match which lights downtown Wadsworth during the festival's duration. The festival then offers attendants their choice of amusement rides, festival foods, midway games, contests, and other entertainment. The Festival begins on the first Tuesday after Father’s Day, and runs through Saturday."

"There was pride in the hierarchy of match-making. Wadsworth is known for Blue Tip Matches. They also made matches with red tips – Rosebud Matches. Reason: Blue Tips did not sell well in the South, so they made the Rosebud [red] to accommodate the diehard southerners who still had the Civil War on their minds. Remember, The Match started only about thirty years following the end of the Civil War," the Wadsworth Area Historical Society says.

"In 1994 the City of Wadsworth purchased the pre-Civil War house from the estate Dr. Myra Johnson at 161 High St. next to the city hall at a cost of $96,000. The house sat dormant and neglected for six years. It looked as if the house would soon become another parking lot for the new City Hall.

"The facility has been transformed into a comprehension local museum which houses relics from Wadsworth’s past including a database of electronically preserved photographs and newspaper articles. Visitors may have free access to theses records in the second-floor research room. A free wifi service is also available."

"The Blue Tip Festival kicks off with the parade on Tuesday night, there is the 5k Matchstick Race (and now a half marathon as well) on Friday night, followed by the end of the festival on Saturday night. The weather was absolutely beautiful yesterday, so we set out to Wadsworth for the Blue Tip Parade and opening night of the festival," the Ohio Wanderlust says.

"For the record, the giant match is not always out, it is only out for the Blue Tip Festival. The match will burn for five days and then be put away until next year's 45th Blue Tip Festival.

"Although Blue Tip matches are no longer manufactured in Wadsworth, the town has turned the parade and festival into a celebration of itself -- at the end of the festival all of the money will be donated back to Wadsworth based charities."

"Wadsworth is a city in Medina County, Ohio, United States. It is counted as part of the Cleveland metropolitan area, although it functions mainly as a suburb of Akron. Founded on March 1, 1814, the city was named after General Elijah Wadsworth, a Revolutionary War hero and War of 1812 officer who owned the largest share of the lands that became Medina County, Ohio.[4] The population was 24,007 at the 2020 census.

"The Blue Tip Festival is a five-day celebration of the Wadsworth community. It starts with a parade and the lighting of a 20-foot-high blue-tip match, which lights downtown Wadsworth during the festival's duration. The festival offers amusement rides, festival foods, midway games, contests, a local merchant's tent, and other entertainment. Additional events, such as the Wadsworth Running Club's "Matchstick 4 Mile" foot race and the "Blue Tip Idol" singing contest, challenge area athletes and performers. Special events have included passenger train rides on the Blue Tip Express, Community Challenges between local organizations, big top circus performances, paint ball shooting ranges, pony rides, bingo tents, and assorted musical performances. 2017 marked the 45th annual Blue Tip Festival.

"The festival is named after the historic strike-anywhere blue tip matches which were once manufactured in Wadsworth. While match manufacturing left Wadsworth in the 1980s, the Blue Tip Festival uses the name and giant match to affirm the community's past and celebrate the modern American city. The festival is now run by a non-profit organization, staffed entirely by volunteers, referred to as the Blue Tip Festival Committee. Revenues from the festival are donated to Wadsworth area non-profit groups." (Wikipedia)

Photos: World's Largest Matchstick Sculpture: world record in Wadsworth, Ohio. Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Wadsworth Blue Tip Festival