INTERNATIONAL FEST: AFTER HIATUS, EVENT IS BACK THIS WEEKEND
By Caitlin Murray
Niagara Gazette
August 14, 2008 06:05 pm
NY
After a two-year hiatus, the International Festival is back.
And this weekend, it’s being expanded into a two-day affair, with free
all-day events, music and food vendors at Gill Creek Park in an effort
to win back the audience that may have forgotten about the event.
"We talked to a lot of people in block clubs and local area and they
enjoyed the festival and missed it," said Jim Szwedo, president
of the Niagara Street Area Business and Professional Association,
which runs the event. "We have a lot more school-aged kids now so
what we’re doing now is important for the people in our area."
The festival got pushed to the backburner when it became difficult
to get the business community involved and long-standing members of
the association were less active, making it tough to recruit a team
to do the months of preparation needed for the fest.
"They were bad financial times — it was harder to get sponsors,"
Szwedo said. "It’s not like other festivals where they get $15,000
from the city. Everything we do is all privately funded."
Though Niagara Falls has a host of ethnic-specific events,
including the popular Italian and the African-American festivals,
the International Festival is for everyone — a direct reflection
of the Niagara Street area’s diverse composition, said Ron Anderluh,
revitalization coordinator for Niagara Street’s Business Association.
"When all the immigrants came over, they settled on the East
Side," Anderluh said. "We don’t want to lose our history within our
area. Italians, Germans, Scandinavians, Irish, Armenians — we all
played a big part in building the city of Niagara Falls and that’s
what’s we’re trying to celebrate."
Vendors scheduled to set up shop Saturday and Sunday will be offering
Italian, Polish, American and Indian food, among others. Other booths
will offer local history and other merchandise, said Anderluh, who
hopes more vendors will continue to sign up in the days leading up
to the event.
"My dream and the dream of the business association is to have this
become one of the biggest fests of the area," Anderluh said. "In order
to do that, we have to get the cooperation of all these different
ethnic groups to support it by coming out and showing some of their
past customs we don’t want to see lost."
But there will be plenty of the usual American festival-type offerings,
too. A free bounce house, petting zoo, beer tent and face painting
will be running all weekend.
Before the festival took a break, it drew as many as 5,000
people. Szwedo is hoping the event’s return will receive a warm
welcome.
"Meet your neighbors," he said. "Realize there are a lot of good
people in the Niagara Street area, and we’re expecting them all to
come out. Meet the people who actually care about the area."