Returning and new vendors make Mountain Fest 2023 a success
RIDGWAY - With over 100 vendors, Mountain Fest 2023 saw returning vendors combined with brand new vendors for this year’s event.
Tinker's Resin is a resin arts company that has expanded into food and vending over its few years in operation. This women-owned and operated company is run by Melvina Middleton and her daughters and has become a staple of most vendor shows in the area. They count Mountain Fest as one of their favorites.
Chocolate Moonshine/Wow Fudge marks its third year with dozens of fudge creations at the festival. What started as a passion project in the evenings soon became the talk of the town. From perfecting recipes in the family home's basement, Chocolate Moonshine maintains its commitment to quality, innovation and fun.
The Doughnut Factory, which features mini gourmet doughnuts and ice cream, made its debut at Mountain Fest 2023.
The Wilkinsburg-based food truck custom makes each batch to order.
Mountain Fest is also an excellent opportunity for people to check out local stories and see what they sell, just like The Creative Cup Coffee shop in downtown Ridgway. Their warm coffee and drink creations were appreciated by many during the chilly festival.
"We were here last year, and it was a blast," said Kirsten and Irelynn Fink, owners of The Creative Cup, said. "We met a lot of really cool people, and since we're local here, it's even cooler because we get to introduce our store to local people that haven't been in."
Another returning vendor was the sister team behind the "Race to Stupid" game and their newest creation, the add-on "Pirate Blast, the Battle for Monkey Island." The Race to Stupid was born out of the mind of Cathy Tenaglia. The sisters were playing a not-so-fun trivia game with their cousins. Cathy started coming up with ways to make that game better. By the end of the evening, Race to Stupid was born. Pirate Blast is the first of many planned extensions to the game and was introduced at Mountain Fest 2023.
With over 100 vendors, it is impossible to cover all of them individually, but the combined efforts of these business entrepreneurs and the dedicated volunteers of the Elk County Wilds Tourism Association helped to make Mountain Fest 2023 one for the history books.