Italian Heritage Festival continues to get bigger, better
Howard Mincone, with assistance from Samantha Wilson of Uniontown, impresses a crowd with entertaining antics at the Italian Heritage Festival in Uniontown. Mincone is a juggler, physical comic and entertainer.
Kathryn Zaksek, of Mount Pleasant, devours penne with mushrooms and aglio e olio sauce at Italian Fest in Uniontown. Zaksek purchased her pasta from Pasta Lorenzo.
The sound of music, the smell of Italian cuisine and thousands of people filled the streets of Uniontown this weekend during the Italian Heritage Festival.
Event organizers said this year’s festival rivaled none other in the festival’s history, attracting people from all over southwestern Pennsylvania.
“It’s been so crowded and the streets so full of people that it’s hard to walk around at times,” said committee member Nancy Glad. “I can’t remember the festival ever being this big or attracting so many people.”
A nine-person committee, headed by chairman Terry Cellurale, is responsible for planning the two-day event filled with food, live music, entertainment and fun.
Event organizers estimated about 70,000 people attended the festival this year and said they only expect the number to increase as the festival continues to become larger and better.
The committee will meet today to begin planning the 2012 Italian Heritage Festival.
“A lot of work goes into planning and preparing for this,” said committee member Joe Careigh. “This is by far the largest event in Fayette County.”
Glad said the committee already has ideas on how to make next year’s festival even better.
“We plan to improve every year,” she said.
Local vendors and restaurants are encouraged to set up booths, and Glad said event organizers try to keep it as local as possible.
“It makes it much more of a community event,” she said.
Careigh said it’s great to see the streets of downtown Uniontown full of people who are out having a great time and enjoying themselves.
Enjoying the day was Menallen Township Supervisor Robert “Tweety” Yatsko, who said he’s not Italian but was going to be Italian for the day.
“It’s a great event and a good time,” he said. “I’m celebrating being Italian for the day.”