‘Feastival’ to serve up plenty of food, music, art
Third yearly event coming Saturday
Food, music and art will be on the menu when the McKees Rocks Community Development Corporation serves up its third annual “Feastival” from 3 to 9 p.m. Saturday in the municipal parking lot on Furnace Street behind the Hollowood Music & Sound Store.
Free musical performances, many vendors, 20 food trucks and exhibits by local artists are booked for the event.
The feastival began two years ago as something of an experiment, Taris Vrcek, executive director of the community development corporation, said.
“We were looking to create a pop-up event to show people what the downtown of the future will look like,” he said.
Mr. Vrcek has been working for the past several years with borough council and the mayor to revitalize the main business district along Chartiers Avenue.
New traffic lights, paving and a streamlined two-way traffic flow on Chartiers already have been implemented.
The feastival was conceived, in part, as a way to showcase business district improvements for residents and visitors.
At the same time, the community development corporation wanted to build on established traditions in McKees Rocks, a community noted for music and great ethnic foods, Mr. Vrcek said.
Angela Love, a professor at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, coined the term, “feastival” two years ago to fuse the two concepts.
Mr. Vrcek said the event has been growing ever since.
The first year, 500 people came, and attendance last year tripled to over 1,500.
Mr. Vrcek said tents, cooling stations and water will be available for visitors during the summer heat. He said he hopes the combination of food trucks and music will keep the event growing in popularity.
Robert Randolph & the Family Band, a nationally known group from New Orleans, and Big Sam’s Funky Nation will be the featured performers.
Grey Area Productions and the Thunderbird Cafe in Lawrenceville put together the musical program.
Ryan Lammie, a Lawrenceville artist, will display some of his artwork, and a fashion truck will be available for customers to browse new clothing styles.
The Father Ryan Arts Center on Chartiers Avenue also will host a variety of art and musical performances.
A key part of Mr. Vrcek’s strategy to revitalize McKees Rocks will be a refurbished Roxian Theatre on Charters Avenue, which will be able to seat 1,500 concertgoers when it opens.
“The bands on Saturday will be the same types of bands coming to the Roxian,” he said.