Parish festivals bring families, community together

Courtesy photo/ Lisa Smith

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The Festival of Roses will be held May 13-15 at the Skaggs Catholic Center and offers a weekend of fun for the whole family with carnival rides, food booths, games and prizes.

SALT LAKE CITY — The festival and carnival season in the Diocese of Salt Lake City is getting started with festivals throughout Utah.

Saint John the Baptist Parish’s Festival of Roses begins with a golf tournament May 6 and Mardi Gras May 7 in Draper. The festival continues May 13-15 with a 5K race, carnival rides, Utah Xtreme Paintball Dome, games, a family dinner and a live band.

Next up on the calendar is a Cinco de Mayo festival May 14, hosted by St. George Parish, with 16 food booths, games and prizes. "We will crown a king and queen for whomever sells the most tickets," said Rita Cohen. "Last year we raised more than $4,000 selling tickets."

Saint Martin de Porres Parish’s Fun and Faith Festival will be June 10-12 on the church grounds in Taylorsville. "The festival begins Friday night with a Mexican dinner and dance to the live band Groupo Illusion," said Lynn Adams, festival coordinator. "Saturday there will be a car show, live entertainment, a silent auction, games and food."

Saint Thomas More Parish’s Days of Yore festival is a three-day festival that was established almost 30 years ago and is always held the third week in June; the proceeds always help a private charity, the Diocese of Salt Lake City and the parish. This year’s festival will be June 17-19.

"The private charity we are helping this year is the Fisher House for families with a patient in the Veterans Medical Center," said Matt Bayer, festival chairman. "The festival will include carnival rides and is open to the public. It brings people from all over the valley together who have been coming to our festival for years."

Saint Patrick Parish’s carnival was established in the late 1950s. This year it will be held Aug. 5-6 on the church grounds in Salt Lake City. "Each year we try to earmark this fundraiser for repairs or upgrades," said Gloria Cisneros, parish secretary. "We have a multi-cultural community, so we offer Korean, African, Mexican, Filipino, Tongan and American food. All the groups participate and we have a raffle in which someone can win up to $1,000."

Saint Joseph the Worker Parish’s FolkFest is so organized they have a how-to booklet on chairing the festival created by Alicia Sanchez, a former parishioner who handed it over to Mike Hallenbeck this year. "Without that book, I’d be lost," said Hallenbeck, festival chairman.

Sanchez created a 64-chapter loose-leaf that covers every angle of the festival from the kitchen to the field layout, to the garbage. St. Joseph the Worker will hold its festival Sept. 9-11 on the church grounds in West Jordan.

"The festival is a community event and our pastor’s (Fr. Patrick Carley) philosophy is we are all one community and he wants to bring the community at large together," said Hallenbeck.

Saint Mary Parish in Odgen began its parish festival to raise funds to build their new church in West Haven. This is the first year they will hold the carnival on their new church grounds.

"It’s going to be huge," said Theresa Sheffield. "We are going to have hot-air balloon rides. I was at the Chrism Mass this year when the bishop (the Most Rev. John C. Wester) said ‘Set the bar high. Whatever it is you’re doing, make it spectacular,’ so we’re working on that. We are inviting the local farmers to bring fresh vegetables and fruits, and we are trying to involve our tight-knit community in all the religions. We’re inviting Polynesian dancers and involving the high schools, junior highs and elementary schools for our entertainment. We are going to have a dunking booth and Father Gustavo Vidal, our pastor, is one of our contestants."

What makes Saint Francis Xavier Parish’s Festival unique is the community booths. Organizers invite local businesses such as Stark’s Funeral Parlor and the Utah Grizzlies hockey team to participate. Their festival is Aug. 27 in Kearns.

Saints Peter and Paul’s Unity Festival will be held June 10; among the highlights will be the crowning of a Little Princess and Little Prince for youth ages 6 to 18 for selling the most tickets to the festival, and hosting a soccer tournament for all parish soccer teams. "We get all our ethnic groups involved and have American, German, Filipino, Tongan and Latino foods, drinks and dance performances at our celebration," said Carlos Cortez, chairman. "We will also have a clown and face painting for the kids."

Blessed Sacrament Parish will host its Fall Festival Aug. 27-28. "This is our 25th annual festival and we will auction off commemorative mugs this year," said Dave Ruffini, festival chairman.

Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Price will host its annual Oktoberfest Friday, Sept. 23-24, from noon to midnight, with the focus on food, starting with Friday night’s Mexican dinner. During the day there will be hamburgers, hotdogs, homemade kielbasa and Italian sausage, and "the hit of the festival is our homemade strudel, which we will sell both baked and frozen," said Catherine Kane, festival chairwoman. "We invite the community and this year it’s Price City’s 100th anniversary, so Price City council members will be serving cake and ice cream to celebrate the centennial."

The Notre Dame de Lourdes carnival, which grew into the Oktoberfest, was the inspiration for Saint Olaf parishioner Stacey Oliveto-Byrd’s plans for an Oct. 1 Oktoberfest at St. Olaf. She grew up in Price and wants her daughter to have the same kind of memories she had as a child.

"I think what will make it special is that we’re going to have a talent show and international foods," said Byrd.

Another successful festival in the diocese is at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the Vietnamese Catholic parish in Kearns with Father Dominic Thuy Dang Ha, pastor.

"Our festival is the held the second week in August every year, and we call it the Summer Festival," Fr. Thuy said. "We have Vietnamese food and entertainment and games we created ourselves, like fish pond and ring duck. What makes it so successful is the way the people work together."

Another carnival where people work together is the Carmelite Fair, which will be held Sept. 18, and will feature the second annual 5K race to honor the late Sister Mary Joseph, who was the Carmelite Monastery’s extern sister. The proceeds are the main support the sisters receive throughout the year.

A list of the date and locations of the festivals follows. Most offer beer gardens, wine and a variety of food as well as activities for all ages.