Festival opens with sumptuous food & colorful entertainment

McKeesport’s annual celebration of cultural heritage will continue today and Thursday.

Appetizing scents from various types of food filled the air Tuesday for the opening of McKeesport’s 65th annual International Village.

Crowds gathered to enjoy the diverse cuisine that the festival is famous for. This year’s event features 17 food vendors, each representing a specific country.

Unbothered by the 90-degree weather, attendees were determined to sample the varieties of food, and vendors were ready to go once the event started at 3 p.m.

Christ Temple AME Rev. Terry Johnson, who helps lead the African American and soul food booth, said the church has one of the longest-running food booths at the event.

“If you don’t see somebody all year, if you come here, you’ll probably see them,” Johnson said. “This has been going on for a long time, since the ’60s, and it’s good that people could come together like this and have a good time of fellowship.”

Sandra Campos, with Ta’Con Tacos based in Wexford, helped lead the Mexican food booth. This was their second year at the event, making them one of the newer vendors, but Campos said they’ve had a great experience so far.

“We’re super excited to be back,” Campos said. “Last year it was super busy for us, so we’re hoping we have the same outcome this year.”

Some of their most popular items are their al pastor tacos, quesadillas and chicken tacos. They also had agua frescas, which were perfect for Tuesday’s hot, sunny weather.

The festival is also known for its European cuisine. At the Serbian booth, run by Apple Harvest, executive chef Vasil Oblockovich, said people love their lamb. This is their first year at International Village.

“We’re a fairly brandnew company, Apple Harvest,” Oblockovich said. “So we just started doing festivals. We did the art festival. We’re doing this one, and we’re doing a festival in Glassport.”

The Swedish food booth was run by McKeesport Shared Ministry, Beulah Park Campus, which is one of the older organizations at the event. Caryl Randolph, who was working at the Swedish booth, said she’s been helping Shared Ministry at International Village for 18 years.

Randolph said apple dumplings are the musttry item on their menu, and they also offer several other delicious pastries. They have a twoweek process to prepare for International Village.

“One week we are doing prep for the dough, and then one week we are actually peeling apples and doing the covering with the dough, making the cinnamon, and then the day of, like this morning, we start baking,” Randolph said.

A variety of Asian food can also be found, with Taiwanese, Vietnamese and Filipino vendors at the event. The Philippines booth was run by the Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh, with drinks, pastries and food available at their stand.

Evelyn Abola, with FAAP at the Philippines booth, said that they’ve been coming to the International Village for 12 to 15 years.

“I like the shows that they put on, the different countries, only because we’re losing that,” Abola said. “It’s a way for countries to still hang on to their identity. I love watching them in their costumes.”

Abola added that FAAP will be presenting a show at 7 p.m. Thursday Claudia Stipetic, a Baldwin resident, said her favorite food at the festival is lamb, and she generally enjoys food from the Slovak, Croatian and Serbian booths.

“I’ve lived in this area all my life, except for a few weeks, where I lived out of town,” Stipetic said. “I grew up in Duquesne and have come here all the time. Now I live in the Baldwin- Pleasant Hills area.

So now I make it a point to come back.”

One of Tuesdays first performances was Kolo with Orkestar Pobeda at the Blue Top Pavilion, which immediately had people on their feet dancing. The rest of the night featured belly dancers, Grecian Odyssey Dancers, Indian dancers and Bulgarian dancers.

At the opening night ceremony, this year’s princess of Village for Kids, 6-year-old Kayia Moats, and the prince, 12-year-old George Nelson, received their prizes of bicycles and helmets.

Local elected officials could be found all over International Village, trying out the food. State Rep. Dan Goughnour and state Sen. Nick Pisciottano, both Mon Valley natives, said they grew up going to International Village and consider it a very special event.

“I grew up right across the street,” Goughnour said. “I looked forward to this every year growing up as a kid, kind of was the signal event of the summer that school was right around the corner.”

Pisciottano shared a similar sentiment to Goughnour, stating that there is no other event like it in the Mon Valley.

“This is one of my favorite weeks of the summer,” he said. “I just love the idea of how long this has been around, how it involves all these local religious and civic organizations, and how it’s like, even for me and now my son, it’s something that people in this area do every year, and it’s a family occasion, and it’s really unique.”

Bob Macey, Allegheny County council member for District 9, said he doesn’t have a favorite food at the International Festival because he’s a fan of everything at the event.

“I think it’s a wonderful event and that more people should enjoy it,” he said. “And as you can see, there’s a great crowd here, and it’s very peaceful, and it’s just a very nice setting.”

Sharon Soles, International Village gate volunteer coordinator, and volunteers Zofia Lattanzi and Karen Lischner expressed how special it is to help out at the event. Soles said some aspects of International Village have remained the same over the years.

“This is a service to our community,” Soles said. “We’re trying to give you a place to go enjoy your ethnic food and come in and see all your friends and have a good night out. This is a service for our community.”

Fireworks that were scheduled for Tuesday had to be rescheduled due to technical difficulties to Thursday at 9 p.m.

International Village will continue today and tomorrow, with gates opening at 3 p.m. and a $2 admission fee. For an entertainment schedule, go to https://internationalvillage. info.