Find a Job

Keywords:

Location:

Home > Your Life

Your Life  

Church fair takes on an international flair

SUN HERALD

BILOXI --

There was a time when practically every church on the Mississippi Coast, large and small, sponsored what we used to call a "church fair" - for the benefit and enjoyment of parishioners but also to supplement church funds.

Many of those mini-festivals have become only pleasant memories of penny pitching and cake walks, homemade pralines and bingo, bingo and more bingo.

Not all of them have gone away, though. Some not only remain but have taken on the character and drawing power of a county or state fair, those storied events fashioned to engage an entire community for a week or more.

We're thinking of one in particular that comes close to that caliber, and it happens next weekend - May 16, 17 and 18 at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, 2090 Pass Road in Biloxi.

The parish's annual International Spring Festival, held on the parish grounds, has a little bit of everything and a whole lot of some things, enough to attract families not just from Fatima parish but the entire Coast.

Between the hours of 4 and 10 p.m. on the 16th, and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the 17th and 18th, look for heavy traffic and happy faces at the intersection of Pass and Jim Money roads, drawn by one of the festival highlights, booths vending foods from around the world, including flavors from South Africa - which we can tell you is a unique cuisine - Latin America, Germany, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Thailand and regions across America.

A mere $5 will get you in on the gumbo tasting, and that's for all you can eat. And seafood plates of shrimp and catfish also will be available.

Carnival rides, always a big draw, will be back. Look for the popular Octopus Ride, Zipper and Giant Slide as well as a roller coaster and tilt-a-whirl among many other. Rock climbing returns, as does the bungee attraction. Add to that train rides, a hay ride and pony rides, turtle races and lots of games for kids, and you begin to see how much Spring Fest really resembles a state or county fair.

Events like Spring Fest rise and fall on entertainment, and no fewer than eight persons are at the helm of this year's festival entertainment lineup, which again includes the Coast Idol talent competition (part of the May 16 lineup). Also on the 16th, Gerald Songe will present his Hank Williams homage and the featured artist will be Samantha Lynn Hart from Nashville.

On the 17th, adult choirs will be among featured entertainers. Among those having verified their appearances are Bay Vista Baptist Church Worship Choir and Crusader Choir, Macedonia Baptist Church Choir, Our Lady of Fatima 5 p.m. Sunday Choir, St. Elizabeth Seton Church Choir, St. Joseph the Worker Church Choir and the band from St. Margaret Mary and St. Charles Borromeo parishes.

A children's choir presentation from area Catholic schools is planned for the 18th, but the schedule also includes music from Hank Beruman, Ruth Olivier and the Diamond Head Dancers, the Vietnamese Dragon Dancers complete with fireworks display, the Peoples Bank Do-Wop Band and various Latino and Filipino entertainers.

And if you're more about participation than observation, there's a Spanish dance planned for 8 p.m. May 17 in the church's parish hall, hosted by the parish's Hispanic Ministry.

Like church fairs of old, Spring Fest is for the edification of parishioners and friends but also to raise money for the parish's elementary school.

---