Food and vendor festival hoping for sunshine
The biggest day of the year in North Wales is just hours away, and there’s only one thing organizers are worried about.
“We have a record-breaking number, including the food trucks and the breweries: we have 140-plus vendors,” said borough Manager Christine Hart.
“Let’s pray for sunshine, all we need is sunshine,” she said.
Each year town staff and volunteers spend months planning Community Day, a daylong festival slated to run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, rain or shine. Highlights of the day will include a free kid zone from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., live music, food trucks, and a beer garden, and Hart told council on Tuesday that many of the faces they see will be familiar.
"Seventy-eight are return vendors, and about half of those have asked for their same spot, which we were able to accommodate. All we need is sunshine, everything else is working out very smoothly," she said.
Mayor Neil McDevitt added a round of thanks to the local volunteers who make the day happen: "Everybody's working so hard to make Community Day this weekend a huge success. I know it's hair-pulling-out time for a lot of people, but thank you for making this our signature event," he said.
Councilwoman Sarah Whelan echoed those thanks: "That's exactly what it is, bringing the community together. And it is not easy to put together."
"The whole community appreciates that day, and I don't think everybody realizes how much effort goes into it behind the scenes, the hours you put into it outside of your working hours. We appreciate all of you, everything that goes into it, and it's going to be a great day," she said.
North Wales pride was on display during the town's Community Day on Sept. 30, 2023. (Photo by Jeff Fazio)
Junior councilman Braeden Bussman said he already has his itinerary for the day set: "I'll be there, with a few of my friends, for sure. We're gonna hit some food trucks. That's our favorite thing to do, so we'll be there," he said.
Hart added that council members and staff will be on hand at vendor tables to share info about the town and its events, and have partnered with the new "Main Street North Wales" nonprofit to share info about that group's revitalization efforts. She gave specific thanks to public works supervisor Ben Raybold and his department's staff for the work they do to help set up, then take down, all day.
"Our checklist is about three pages long, and it's amazing we have the team we do. Public Works certainly takes the brunt of the before (work) - there's a lot of street sweeping, weeds to be cleared, barricades set up, detour signs, trash can liners, generators gassing up, 'No Parking' signs to be hung, making sure everything's in order," she said.
For more information search for "North Wales Community Day" on Facebook.
