Want to go?
WHAT: Marblehead Summerfest
WHEN: July 6-8
WHERE: James Park, Marblehead
COST: Free
INFO: marbleheadsummerfest@yahoo.com
For years Marblehead’s St. Joseph Church Choir has been hosting the one-day fundraiser Parish Fall Festival; however, space became an issue of late with packed crowds having, well, packed the house over capacity.
Sensing a need and an opportunity, the church leadership is expanding big time in the form of the inaugural Marblehead Summerfest event taking place July 6 through 8 at James Park.
“Fall Festival, which we started 8 or 9 years ago, went really well,” said St. Joseph Director of Music and Liturgy Ron Ossovicki. “We did a lot of carnival style games with the kids, and I’d say we had between 800 and 1,000 people throughout one day. Now with Summerfest, it’s hard to say how many people will attend. It’s Marblehead and it’s Fourth of July weekend. So over a three-day period it could be thousands.”
Prior to scheduling Summerfest, Ossovicki said he made sure the event didn’t conflict with other area traditions like the Halupki Festival and the Lions Perch Festival. That said, this brand-new event appears to be huge with more than a dozen amusement rides and games.
Food-wise, Bar-B-Que Traveler will prepare chicken and ribs at the Shelter House with carry-out available. Other food vendors will provide brats and sauerkraut, hot dogs, pierogies, French fries, nachos, funnel cakes, fried cheese, cotton candy, hand-dipped corndogs, taffy and more.
When it comes to a parish event, the beer tent is obligatory and will be present at Summerfest. It’ll also feature live entertainment including Allie and the Rockers, Unlabeled, Dean Rosiar, The House Band and Bob Gatewood of Calabash.
Considering it is a fundraiser, raffles will include hourly 50/50 drawings and a big raffle including a grand prize or $1,000 for first, $500 for second and $250 for third.
“Our goal is to raise money for the church choir ministry,” said Ossovicki, a Marblehead resident. “It’ll help benefit what we do at Sunday liturgy and throughout the community. In the past we have given a lot of the funds we’ve raised away. We share it with charity and families with children.”
In looking over all of the amenities being offered at Summerfest, odds are this first-time event is going to be, well, huge.
“That’s what we keep on hearing,” Ossovicki said. “I don’t know how big it’s going to be. We don’t know what to expect but we’re prepared for thousands. And we’re just hoping that the weather holds out. That’ll be a big factor. We’re just hoping this will be the beginning of something new that Marblehead will be known for in the summertime for years to come.”
Summerfest takes place July 6 through 8 at James Park, Marblehead. For more information, email
marbleheadsummerfest@yahoo.com.
