Peabody Parking Alert With Return Of International Festival

PEABODY, MA — The first Peabody International Festival since 2019 will bring plenty of food, music and fun to downtown Peabody on Thursday.

It will also bring some parking restrictions and detours to help accommodate the thousands of residents and visitors expected to return to the festival that was canceled the past two years because of COVID-19 concerns.

Peabody police will be posting signs on Saturday noting restricted parking on Main Street and some surrounding areas from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. Parking on Saturday is not affected.

Vehicles found in no parking areas on Sunday morning will be towed.

Road closures will begin at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning for festival vendor move-in. Peabody police will have officers out and detour signs posted on Sunday to assist.

The 37th International Festival will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"The International Festival is our city's signature community event which attracts tens of thousands of people to Main Street and downtown Peabody," Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt said. "It's a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our ethnic heritage and cultural diversity through food, art and entertainment."

Food offerings include those from Poland, Brazil, Mexico, Italy, Greece, and specialty foods from the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand.

The artisan market on Foster Street will include 40 local vendors selling crafts, clothes and gifts from all over the world.

There will be an International Festival Kid's Corner at the East End Veterans Memorial Park next to the Peabody Institute Library from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Peabody will co-host a Craft Beer and Sangria Garden for those 21+ in the Courthouse Plaza all day during the festival.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)