Fine Arts Fiesta Celebrates 61 Years in Wilkes-Barre

WILKES-BARRE — The 61st Fine Arts Fiesta kicked off Thursday in Wilkes-Barre.

The Fine Arts Fiesta has everything you’d want to celebrate spring, but it does not have everything for many of the vendors who travel all over the east coast. You might be surprised, but they are not surviving on hot dogs and fried Oreos.

Every inch of Public Square is sprinkled with different artists, singers, and lots of food for the annual Fine Arts Fiesta.

“I always get this pizza when I’m with my mom, so we’re like, ‘let’s get this!'” said Mia Spazzino.

But vendors who arrive at festivals like the Fine Arts Fiesta prefer food with a little more nutrition.

“These are very long days and it’s hard work and you have to keep stamina up and you have to stay very healthy,” said vendor Sandi Gebhart .

When the Gebharts are in town and not selling their handmade sterling silver jewelry, they’re eating at one of their usual spots.

“One of our favorite places is this Italian restaurant. It’s right across the square here. You have to eat regular meals,” said vendor Barry Gebhart.

John Warren sells homemade brooms for a living and likes living in the country, but when he’s on the road, he looks forward to coming to the Diamond City, largely because of the local food.

“Compared to a lot of other places, you’re out in the middle of a cornfield, and you have one guy flipping hamburgers,” Warren said.

His favorite spot to snack is Mimmo’s Pizza.

Many restaurants and delis — like Circles on the Square — like seeing the familiar faces of the vendors, too.

“Sometimes there’s people when they come in. We know exactly what they want. It’s kind of a reunion for us too because we get to say hello to people we’ve met over the years,” said Stephanie Jennings, Circle Sandwich Maker.

A lot of the restaurants in and around Public Square will even stay open a couple hours later to make sure the vendors get a nice sit-down meal at the end of their day.

“A lot of us know each other from show to show. We like to meet for dinner, and that’s sort of how we get together and wind down for the day,” Barry Gebhart said.

That’s why El Zocalo stays open a little later this weekend only.

“We do look forward to them coming every year,” said owner Paola Mendez. “They do bring a lot more people walking traffic-wise, and they do enjoy coming over every year.”

The theme of this year’s Fine Arts Fiesta is “Spring into Fiesta!” The festival continues through Sunday.

Source / wnep.com — The 61st Fine Arts Fiesta kicked off Thursday in Wilkes-Barre.