Boyertown festival will celebrate health, unity
A multicultural event called ItalFest will use music, plantbased foods and art to promote unity in diversity.
A multicultural event called ItalFest will use music, plantbased foods and art to promote unity in diversity.
“Ital is kind of a Rastafarian philosophy,” said Loriann Wade who owns the all- vegan Firefly Café restaurant located in the borough with husband Michael Martinez.
“Rastafarians are typically from Jamaica and it’s just a philosophy that a lot of Jamaicans follow as far as their way of eating and their way of living,” Wade said.
She explained that the philosophy is about eating foods that come directly from the Earth, unity with nature as well as respecting yourself and others.
ItalFest is this Saturday, June 29, from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Colebrookdale Railroad Yard. Short trains rides will be available for $5. The address is 64 S. Washington St. in Boyertown.
Wade and her husband partnered with the nonprofit organization Building a Better Boyertown and the Colebrookdale Railroad to organize the first ItalFest in town as a way to bring more diversity to the area.
“We just wanted to have a day that celebrates all of the things that we hold dear and the things that we’re trying to promote such as equality, diversity, acceptance, love and compassion for all beings,” Wade said.
The message of ItalFest coincides with the purpose of LGBT Pride Month which is celebrated in June to commemorate the Stonewall Riots that occurred in June 1969. The riots sparked the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.
Wade said a Pride flag is flown outside the Firefly Café and she was happy to be able to have ItalFest during Pride Month. The LGBT Center of Greater Reading will be at the festival to give out information and support.
“They will have a presence to let kids or anybody that may be struggling know that they’re not alone and that they are accepted in our community,” Wade said.
The ItalFest will also allow vegan eaters to enjoy foods from several different vendors. Wade said she wanted to have a festival that offered only vegan options because it’s very difficult to find such choices at other events.
“We have vegan food vendors that are coming from as far as Brooklyn and New Jersey,” she said.
Other vendors at the festival include a glass blower, a vegan beauty company and holistic businesses. Families will be able to enjoy children’s stories, crafts and outdoor games. The community will have the opportunity to paint a mural designed by a local artist during the festival. Wade said once the mural is completed it will be hung somewhere in town.
The ItalFest will also have several diverse musical bands. The headliner band “StringsNskins” has a Latin flare and is from Brooklyn. There is also a reggae band which Wade’s husband, Michael Martinez, sings in. There will be a Latin party band from Philadelphia and an Afro-Fusion band from upstate New York.
Wade said she hopes the community comes out for a great party and has fun.
She and her husband opened up the Firefly Café in 2016 after moving back to the area. In addition to the restaurant, the couple also own a vegan grocery located right next to the café and a room available for rent. The Firefly Café and Outpost are located at 12 N. Reading Ave. in Boyertown.
For more information such as operating hours, visit the website fireflycafeboyertown.com or visit the Facebook page www.facebook.com/fireflycafeboyertown.