International Village latest victim of virus

By JEFF STITT

jstitt@yourmvi.com

As a result of heightened fears about the spread of the coronavirus, the churches of McKeesport will not come together in fellowship this year for a summer festival to celebrate their heritage through music, dance and food.

Mayor Michael Cherepko and the committee that plans the festival announced the cancellation Sunday on social media. It’s the first time in 60 years that International Village, which typically attracts thousands of attendees each August and is one of Western Pennsylvania’s biggest annual ethnic festivals, won’t be held.

The mayor said initially, he and the committee hoped for a “worst-case scenario” involving take-out food service “because so many organizations depend on Village revenue.”

At a recent council meeting, Cherepko said the committee was considering having the event be take-out only with no music or performances and eliminating seating to prevent people from congregating. 

“Circumstances beyond our control have influenced the decision to cancel,” Cherepko said Sunday. “There is no International Village without the vendors, and the vast majority of our vendors have made the difficult decision not to participate. We respect their concerns, and we are hopeful that we will move past this pandemic and host a beautiful Village in 2021.”

Dan Carr, who coordinates the event each year, said the decision to cancel International Village wasn’t easy, but area churches are getting behind it.

“When I contacted individual booths, specifically the churches, they told us that the problem is they are still not on a regular meeting schedule, let alone on a regular cooking schedule,” he said.

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