The annual St. Mary’s Community Festival, a fundraiser for all three Jennings County Catholic churches, will begin Friday and last through Sept. 8.
Admission is free, and the festival is open to the public.
“The festival used to be centered just for members of the church, but for the past 10 years we have opened our doors and the festival has become a community event for everybody,” festival chairperson Abbey Bales said.
Bales said the event has grown each year, and noted that more than 2,000 meals were sold each day.
The meals, carnival rides, music and games attract many people, she said.
“Our volunteers take great pride in our festival,” said St. Mary’s Parish secretary Anne Marie Sullivan, who said that hundreds from St. Mary’s, St. Anne’s and St. Joseph Church work hard to make the festival fun.
The festival begins at about 5 p.m. Friday and continues through the afternoon of Sept. 8.
Fun Time Rides from Ohio will provide carnival rides from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, 3:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 8. Ticket bracelets for the rides can be purchased for about $17, an individual tickets will be available, too.
The festival will feature live music Friday and Saturday. The Cornfield Mafia, from Indianapolis, will perform country music on Friday, and Soul Street will play on Saturday.
A 5K walk/run on the St. Mary’s grounds and a golf scramble at St Annes Golf Course begin at 8 a.m. Saturday. Registration for both will take place at the gate prior to the event or online.
One change this year is that the only sit-down dinner will be Sunday, Sullivan said.
“Instead of the fish dinners held indoors, fish, hamburgers, hot dogs and other treats will be available on both Friday and Saturday outside at the food tent. Our fish dinners will still be sold only on Sunday as usual, and that will be sit-down, inside as usual,” Sullivan said.
The festival will include a beer garden for adults.
Games will be available during the festival, some of which will have a fee. Bales said a corn-hole tournament will be offered again.
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For more information: facebook.com/saintmarysfest
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