On Saturday, Saints Peter and Paul Church in Naperville hosted its second annual Homecoming Fest, an end of the summer family friendly music festival.
“Today we are having our annual Homecoming Fest where we invite the whole parish to come out, from the little ones all the way to all the way to the seniors, to enjoy music and food and just fun,” said Volunteer Committee Kathy Aabram.
Celebrating a Long Milestone
The first one took place in August of 2021, to celebrate a notable milestone for the parish.
“Last year we were celebrating our 175th anniversary and we needed a great social event, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to recreate this,” said Pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Father Brad Baker.
Seeing the community back together for a large event was a welcome sight for parishioners.
“We’re super excited to get people out now that COVID is hopefully mostly behind us and we haven’t had a chance to have a lot of the fun the last couple years. So we’re thrilled that we’ll expect over two thousand people this year to join us for fun and just to hang out,” said Aabram.
“So we have live music, a lot of people starting dancing, we have a beer tent of course run by the Knights of Columbus, we have all kinds of children events. And then over on the other side, we have all the food trucks, and we have all kinds of food, from burgers to funnels, to all the stuff you would expect at a festival,” said Aabram.
The success of the festival was dependent on the help of volunteers; several of who were alumni and teachers.
“This is my 25th year here so I want to see kids, I want to see people from my class, people that knew my brothers and sisters and my family. It’s a lot of good memories,” said Religion Teacher Ruthy O’Malley.
Bring the Community Close
According to Father Baker, making community connections through fests like these is key.
“It’s so important that we gather like this, just to renew friendships and make new friendships and to welcome those who perhaps are visiting us for the first time and welcoming them to Saints Peter and Paul,” said Baker.
Naperville News 17 Patrick Codo reports.
