What would you is one of the most quintessential summer activities would be? Picnics? BBQs? Carnivals? Road trips? Well if you answered any of these you’re absolutely right! This list is in no way a comprehensive one, but these are the most popular. Depending on your personality, you may like some or all. The focus of this article is on the second to last activity: carnivals. Now depending on your idea of it, carnivals, (like a lot of other things in life) come in all shapes and sizes. All in all, the basic elements are the same: rides, games, food, and just plain ole family fun. Carnivals can be run by towns or churches. Every year my church happens to hold a “feast” around early to mid-August. No matter what you call it, it’s a fun annual event. The event runs for five days and crowds are always drawn to it. How can they not be? It’s a nice, relatively inexpensive night out, where you can pick and choose what you eat and what you do. Since my church is a melting pot of different nationalities, a trip to this ‘feast’ is more like a lesson in appreciating the different types of people you would encounter in town. So in keeping with the various populations, it’s natural to see that there are representative ethnic food groups as well. A stroll through the ‘feast’ grounds goes something like this:
IF you are lucky enough to find parking (which comes at a premium at certain times), you start making your way towards the ‘feast’ grounds. The closer you get, the sights, sounds, and smells of the feast becomes readily apparent. Bells, laughter, generators for the food trucks, people selling chances for a jackpot prize to be drawn at a later time, and wafting aromas of the various food offerings all serve to stimulate your five senses. As you go through the fairgrounds, you can see booths for Spanish food, Italian food, Polish food, regular food, and desserts. Food tucks have offerings of typical carnival faire: gyros, shishkebabs, Mister Softee, zeppoles…and of course, who could forget the food that SCREAMS carnival: yep, you guess right: FRIED OREOS!!!! Walking around you can also see some vendors selling various crafts, trinkets, jewelry, and the like. As you peruse through all that there is to take in, you can hear a live band playing and see people dancing. You can’t help but get a good feeling watching the merriment and enjoying people enjoying themselves. Walking around even more let you experience the games and rides. Each year, I try to play some games, not because I need another cheesy prize, but because it’s fun to compete for said cheesy prize, and because some of the proceeds will go to the church. It’s just all a part of the atmosphere. I haven’t gone on rides in a long time, although I’m not opposed to it. Recently, they added a rock climbing wall….HOW FUN IS THAT???
I usually try to go every night that the ‘feast’ is on, mostly to support my church. Although I don’t officially sign up, I also volunteer (when I get there). I mostly help with the hospitality area where they have ‘free’ food for feast workers. This way the people who volunteer and help make sure the feast is running smoothly can come to the gathering place for a free meal. This ensures that they don’t have to spend money on the vendor food (unless they want to), since they are already giving of their time. A lot of close friends volunteer and my family and I are pretty active in the church community so it’s almost like a second family. In essence, we all help each other out. So I just help informally wherever help is needed.
What’s great about a carnival like this is that it’s simple, it a great night out, and most importantly, proceeds go to a great cause: helping out the church. It’s so rewarding in more ways than just monetary reasons. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about going to amusement parks, but it’s a different atmosphere in a ‘feast’ or ‘carnival’. It’s intimate and you don’t have to worry about getting ripped off. You spend what you want, since admission is free, and you just have to buy tickets or a bracelet if you want to go on any rides; otherwise, all you spend money on is food or games. You can walk around, have a good time, and not even spend a dime!
So get out there! Check your local papers to see who’s sponsoring a feast/carnival near you. Trust me, it’s good ole fashioned fun! It’ll make you feel good: not only do you have a good time but you can also help support a town or church….
Anybody have any good stories from their time at one of these carnivals? Maybe I’ll be able to give you a recap of this year’s festivities….I’ll certainly try my best. In the meantime, I’d love to hear about YOUR experiences!!!!!
XOXOXOXOXO,
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