Downtown Levittown Part 2:Festivals

Last article addressed ideas on how to attract people to our great community by imagining a downtown Levittown.

Attention will now be paid to our festivals. Levittown has its Lazy Days of summer at the East Village Green and East Meadow has Pride Day at Speno Park. Small festivals are great. They help neighbors get to know each other and build a sense of community. I’m not saying get rid of them, but we could use festivals that will attract out of towners like the Mini Maker Fair in Port Jefferson.

Since the medieval fair at Sands Point has shut down there’s been no replacement…except that our neighbor, Farmingdale, had its second Farmingdale Medieval History Day on the Village Green. Farmingdale even ran a half page ad in the June 6 edition of the Hometown Shopper to promote it. As far as I know there has been no replacement for the Pirate Festival that was in Sayville. Something to think about.

The Memorial Day Festival at Tri County may be great fun, but how much different is it from the hundreds of carnivals with rent a rides that spring up throughout the summer? We need to think like Long Beach with its Irish Festival in October with its parade, and musicians and vendors right on the street.

We can give credit to Long Beach with thinking outside the box for holding an Irish Festival outside March. For those who like to wear green all year a halfway to St. Patrick’s Day in September would work. Many restaurants already celebrate the halfway “holiday” with specials so why not run with it?

The Irish St. Bridget is the patron saint of poetry. A poetry festival on February 1st (her feast day) would be a nice way to spend a winter afternoon. Hot drinks, light snacks, poetry, what’s not to like?

The Vanderbilt Cup Races were ran on The Long Island Motor Parkway with a grandstand built in Levittown. Perhaps an historic car festival that featured a parade of cars driving what was the route might be an idea.

Why not a train festival at the Wantagh train museum?

The Long Island Center for Independent Living has the LICIL Turnpike Players, a reader’s theater group. There already is a Special Olympics. How about a theater festival that features the talents of the physically challenge? How about a high school festival featuring our high schools’ “drama clubs? Let us support and work with the Ivy Lane Players and perhaps build a festival around them?

Festivals can be centered around food, an ethnic group, the arts, history, the list is endless.

How about it, Levittown? Are we up for some fun?