Francis Fest is a hallmark of the St. Francis of Assisi community, but it wasn’t always in its current form. “When we first started this parish, Father English, if you remember, had the house across the street, “ says Tricia Henry, long-time parishioner and former Director of the Community Center. ”That’s actually where the first picnic started. They had a mass at the picnic table in his backyard. I guess you could say that he started the very first small social gatherings of the community.” Those first small gatherings have grown into the Francis Fest we know today.
From 1983, with those backyard gatherings, the Parish Picnic moved to our main campus across the street when the Church was completed, until 1991, when the preschool was built and began operating. At that point, and because of the significant increase in parish membership, the Parish Picnic moved out to the YMCA Camp Kanata property off Highway 98 in Wake Forest. Parishioners would gather on picnic blankets by the Kanata lodge, bring a casserole or food to share, and participate in the 11:30 Mass before lunch. Kids would swim in the lake, while adults played volleyball, and everyone had a great time! As Ashley Watson, current Coordinator of Community Life, and a young girl at those parish picnics, said, “Well, this was always meant to be a celebration. This event was always intended to bring the community together.”
Then, it was in Camp Kanata for many years, until about 2007. “I remember,” says Tricia, “why it moved from Camp Kanata. Because the YMCA owns Camp Kanata, and they changed their rules and no longer allowed non-YMCA events to be held there, they ended our agreement.” It was precisely at the time that we were launching the capital campaign and constructing the chapel, the Siena Center for Lifelong Learning, the Community Center, and the Labyrinth. “So then it evolved to Gift Fest because we were in this capital campaign,” she said, “Gift Fest was on campus, in the parking lot.” That was the event held from 2007 to 2009, in May, where we gathered to support the capital campaign and conduct gift discernment for the parishioners.
In 2010, Francis Fest began on campus, but not as it is today. How did Francis Fest come about? Tricia says, “When I was hired into the Community Center position in May of 2010 by Father Mark. We were all discussing how to move beyond Gift Fest in our staff meetings. We evolved Gift Fest into Francis Fest that first year, and we scrambled to get it right. Gift Fest was done in May, but we decided to move it to the fall. I remember this because we were in staff meetings, and we’re like, ‘What are we going to do?’ It was the last minute. I mean, I was just hired in May.” The topic of the Feast of Francis came up; we celebrate it on October 4th. “I said, ‘That’d be a perfect time for a celebration of our community.’ That’s how we evolved our first parish gatherings from mass in the backyard to picnics in the park to gift campaigns always grounded in our parish community, so we named our first Francis Fest,” remembered Tricia.
Tricia recalls, “When we actually moved it to be near the Feast of Francis, that’s when we evolved the whole theme of it, where it was so much more than a picnic. That’s where we introduced the concepts of ‘Franciscan community’ and ‘Care for Creation’, as well as service for others.” That first year was kind of a mix between a Gift Fest and Francis Fest. “Everyone paid the same price, regardless of age, and we ate hamburgers and hot dogs. It was essentially an all-you-can-eat deal,” she said with a smile. In 2011, it evolved even more. “We had the whole year to plan, and we did plan for the whole year. We started dreaming about purpose and ways to include everyone.. Yeah, so that’s when we basically came up with a theme. 2011’s theme was Engaging Francis.” We had live music, kid-friendly elements, and Habitat for Humanity came that first year and did the ‘Habitat build.’ We had several craft-oriented activities centered around service,” says Tricia.
At one point, Francis Fest was all over the campus because we set up a tent at TFS, where we initially held a talent show and other events in their courtyard. The field was used for field games, too, but then some people said it was just too spread out. Tricia and Ashley feel it has evolved into a perfect scenario, now occurring in the Community Center parking lot and at the ‘Church end’ of campus. One rainy year, we moved inflatables indoors into Fellowship, which became an ideal central location because it’s dry, air-conditioned, and safely contained for our kids. It was in 2015 when Tricia brainstormed the idea of a local and sustainable tasting room. “I liked it when we brought in the tasting room,” she says. “That was enticing for the ‘empty nester’ and the young adults to actually come and participate in Francis Fest, since our focus was always on a community event for the whole of the community.
None of this would be possible without the same sense of service found throughout all that we do at St. Francis. With approximately 1,500 people in attendance throughout the day, and with so much going on, volunteers are priceless! “We have about 275 volunteers for those 1,500 attendees,” says Ashley, from all age groups, middle school, high school, and adults. It’s really heavy on the middle school and high school because they help with all the activities.” The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have helped for many years, and the TFS Junior National Honor Society has also contributed significantly, as they all aim to earn service hours for that program. “So, from the picnic through to where we are now, I think the focus is still community,” says Ashley. That’s really the point of it all.
When is Francis Fest this year? “October 5th,” says Ashley, “with all the same fun events.”
- The day begins with Mass celebrating our patron, St. Francis.
- There’s the crafts, games, entertainment, and the tasting room.
- The food trucks and the Knights of Columbus are serving food.
- All the inflatables and open gym games for the kids.
- The gathering as a faith community to enjoy each other’s company, just like those very first gatherings at the picnic table across the street!
Make plans now to attend Francis Fest 2025 in October!
