Polish Town Fair & Festival returns to Riverhead this weekend

It’s a big weekend for Riverhead’s Polish Town, as the Polish Town Fair & Festival returns for the first time since 2019 on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 17 and 18.

The Polish Town Civic Association has been holding annual festivals since 1985, but stopped after 2019 due to the pandemic. The Riverhead Polish Hall has been filling that gap for the past two years with their own event. This year, both groups will host events throughout the weekend as part of a coordinated effort.

“We’re ready to go,” said Kevin Davis, the president of the Polish Town Civic Association, a position held by his late mother, Kay, for many years. 

“We’re getting ready for the big day,” said Tom Najdzion, the president of Polish Hall. “This will be the first time we’ve been on both Saturday and Sunday.”

“It’s a great time,” Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard said on Thursday. “It kind of lost track a little bit with COVID, but now they’ve got things back together, and it’s expected to be as big and glorious as it has in past years.” 

“There will be vendors from Polish Hall to the Osborn Avenue traffic light and then down Pulaski, up Osborn and down Lincoln Street,” Mr. Davis said. “It’s going to flow right into each other. You won’t even know you were going from one fair to another.” 

Mr. Davis said the civic association has added 63 new members this year.

Mr. Najdzion said the two groups have been working together.

“We’ve been sharing our prices on everything, so everything is going match,” he said. 

The civic association events kick off at 10 a.m; the Polish Hall’s flag ceremony will start at noon. 

The traditional Polish wedding and parade are slated to start at St. Isidore Church on Saturday. A Polish school performance is slated for 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. There will be a car show and folk dancing under the tent beginning at 6 p.m. and more sponsored by the civic association on Saturday.

View the full schedule below.