Amusement park rides, brats, burgers and tacos, music and games are all part of a large, three-day parish festival in St. Paul that has a big name: The Nativity County Fair.
Nativity of Our Lord, that is, and no, it’s not a traditional county fair. Mass kicks off the last day of the fair, for example. Proceeds go toward the parish and its elementary school.
And parishioners view the September festivities every bit as much a “friend-raiser” as a fundraiser, said Patrick Martin, one of the chairmen of the fair, to Patrick Conley, host of “Practicing Catholic,” for a program debuting 9 p.m. June 17 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Members of the steering committee for the Nativity County Fair, an annual parish festival for Nativity of our Lord in St. Paul. COURTESTY PATRICK MARTIN.
“Our goal is to create opportunities for parishioners to join together and support the parish,” Martin said. “It’s to have fun and it’s to support the parish and school. So, we are always focused on that. This is a community building event.”
“We like to think that there’s really something for everybody,” Martin said. “We have great food; we have terrific entertainment. We have a huge stage that we book the whole three days of the fair. We have kids’ games and activities. Of course, we have the midway with all of the rides that the kids just love.”
Is there something in particular to look forward to at this year’s fair? Conley asked Martin, who replied that there is a favorite amusement park ride many kids will be happy to see again: the fast spinning, gravity-defying Gravitron.
“If you were to ask a Nativity student what’s the best thing about the 2022 fair, I think they would reply that the Gravitron will be back,” Martin said.
This year’s fair will be held Sept. 16-18. More information about it can be found at nativitycountyfair.org.
To learn about the impact COVID-19 has had on the long-running fair, and to hear the entire interview, tune into this episode of the “Practicing Catholic,” which repeats at 1 p.m. June 18 and 2 p.m. June 19.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who reflects on the June 3-5 Archdiocesan Synod Assembly, and Ryan O’Hara, a Catholic speaker and father of four young men, who discusses faith and Father’s Day.
Listen to their interviews after they have aired:
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