Even the threat of rain was not enough to stop true fans of Nativity Fest from coming out to celebrate opening night of the annual festival’s 51st year.
“What we have here is something special, it’s a tradition, and people come here out of tradition,” said Nativity priest Father Andrew Corona. “I don’t know how many times I see people here that I haven’t seen in a while. It’s a great place to meet old friends.”
Corona, who usually chairs the Nativity Fest, was able to take more time to enjoy the celebration this year by passing the responsibilities over to Frank Farkas.
“Last year he shadowed me, and this year he took it upon himself to go solo, and he did a great job,” Corona said.
Farkas credits his success to the people who offer their time to help.
“We refer to them as our village of volunteers,” Farkas said. “Without those four-to-five hundred people, this wouldn’t happen. It makes my job easy, I just oversee it all.”
Farkas appreciates the sense of community that comes along with Nativity Fest.
“It’s a chance for us to open up our grounds and our church, a type of area for the community to come in and share with us for four days,” Farkas sad
Although they love the seeing everyone at the fair, both Farkas and Corona agree on the best part of Nativity Fest: the food.
“’The best food this side of heaven’ – that’s our tagline,” Corona said.
The two recommended any fairgoer try the famous Nativity Tacos.
Corona also described the corn on the cob as, “the best ever.”
“It’s all homemade food and the woman have been cooking for the last three weeks,” Farkas said.
Nativity Fest will run Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to midnight, and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m.
Entertainment will include the Neverly Brothers and other bands that Corona said are “fan favorites,” like Nawty and the Allen Wronko Band. There will be karaoke and mariachi on Sunday.
“It’s been an exhausting week, but it always seems to come together in the end,” Farkas said.