Cold and rain on the first two days of the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church’s inaugural Family Festival didn’t stop residents from pouring in from May 29-June 1. The carnival was the culmination of months of planning.
“This carnival is amazing,” said 9-year-old Herricks resident James Stoven. “I hope it happens again next year.”
Father Frank Grieco came up with the idea to hold the festival. His past assignments in East Northport and Deer Park have hosted similar fairs.
Grieco has been in New Hyde Park for 11 months. He broached the idea of a festival with parishioners and held festival committee meetings, which boasted 75 attendees or more.
“Everyone was in a good mood, there no problems,” said Grieco. “It couldn’t have been better.
Grieco revealed that as of press time, the fair had collected $45,000. He said next year’s event is already planned.
“We needed some revenue for the parish,” he said. “We wanted to give the parishioners a positive experience. What I found satisfying in New Hyde Park, it was definitely a community event. In Deer Park and East Northport, people from all over came. Half of them I didn’t even know. Here, it was a community event.”
Local entertainment highlighted the fair. The likes of former New Hyde Park Village Clerk Pat Farrell, Victor Cuneen and Tommy Deegan performed classic rock and Irish music.
“The success of the festival was a collective effort,” Grieco stated. “Everyone chipped in. That’s what makes me feel good as a pastor.”
Other acts included 15 Below, an alternative rock band, and EJ the DJ (Eammon Lennon), a New Hyde Park disc jockey. The parish hoped to strengthen the “family dynamic” in New Hyde Park by holding a festival geared toward children.
“We struggled with the weather on [Friday] with the rain and cold, which kind of slowed the momentum, but [Saturday] and [Sunday] were completely packed,” said Family Festival Committee Chairman Kevin Fitzpatrick. “Everyone had a great time. It was a real family-centered event.”
Fitzpatrick pointed to the cooperation between committee members, which streamlined the preliminary set-up towards the fair.
“I was initially concerned with the amount of time we had, only to realize that other committee heads were so competent and so good at what they did, it made my job really easy,” he said. “We had a tremendous amount of volunteers too.”
For Fitzpatrick, he’d like to see a few rides set up in the front parking lot of the church on Jericho Turnpike. This year, the spot was reserved for music and other entertainment.
“We can always improve and expand,” he said. “Our dream is to have the Ferris wheel in the front parking lot. The entertainment was a huge success and I think rides right next to it would be great.”
For more photos from the festival, go to facebook.com/ HolySpiritFamilyFestival
