Saints Joachim & Anne Parish preparing for annual festival
The Aug. 1-3 celebration will be the first for the Rev. Tom Burke.
Saints Joachim and Anne Parish is preparing for its annual summer community festival.
The decades-long tradition will have three days of games, food, worship and music. Aug. 1-3, will feature community favorites such as specialty baskets, Wheelbarrow of Cheer, flea market, entertainment for adults and children and bingo sessions. After purchasing a wristband, kids can play in the children’s play area.
The food selection will include sweets for dessert, cotton candy, funnel cakes and a bake sale. And for the first time boba (bubble tea), a Taiwanese tea-based drink, will be available.
“I’m not sure if you’ve had (boba), but it is so delicious,” festival facilitator Cathy Esack said.
The food booths and flea market will open at 5 p.m. Aug. 1 and 2, and all other activities will begin at 6 p.m. All activities and booths will open at 5 p.m. Aug. 3. Mass on Saturday will begin at 4 p.m.
DJ Timmy will perform, along with Mikey Dee Polka and Variety Band, and Tim Litvin and the Nature Boy Band.
Esack has been the festival’s facilitator since 2012 and is very excited for another year.
“I have an amazing team, who is wonderful to work with and the parish is great too,” she said. “We’re able to do this event mainly because of donations. The parishioners and the community really pull together to make this happen. It’s really beautiful.”
Esack emphasized the importance of support from all three churches — Saint Eugene, Saint Michael and Queen of the Rosary — that make up the parish.
This festival will be the first for the Rev. Tom Burke. He has been with the parish for seven months and is excited to be there.
“The moment I walked in the door they welcomed me with open arms,” Burke said. “They are very compassionate people, and we’re just on fire. It’s a very active, growing community.”
Burke added that the festival is one of the largest fundraisers the churches put together, and the money that comes from events like this is put back into the parish to help it grow.
Updates like accessibility signs and church signage are among the results of the parishioners’ and the community’s work.
“There are three churches, but it really is one big family. They are hard workers who really love their parish,” Burke said.
Saint Joachim and Anne Parish invites families from near and far to come and enjoy the weekend festivities.
“Forget about the world, and just relax with some safe fun,” Esack said. “There’s something for everyone to do; it’ll truly be an event to remember.”
Nya O’Neal is a summer intern at the Mon Valley Independent through Point Park University’s Pittsburgh Media Partnership. She is a rising junior at Howard University in Washington, D.C., from McKeesport.
