About 250,000 visitors are expected to attend the annual Irish Fall Festival in North Wildwood this weekend.
The multi-day event includes musical performances, dancing and food and craft stalls.
Mayor Patrick Rosenello expects the festival to be busy due to the predicted good weather.
“You couldn’t have asked for a better weekend for the Irish Fall Festival, so it’s going to draw a lot of people,” Rosenello said. “I think it’s going to be a record.”
Joseph Lerro, owner of Joe Joe’s, expects to see 10 to 20 times his normal sales during an off-season weekend.
“This is a boost at the end of the season for everybody,” Lerro said. “It’s a big part of our business, especially now at the end of the season when things are starting to slow down a little bit.”
Rosenello added that it is not only entrepreneurs who benefit from the weekend.
“The waiters and waitresses, the bartenders, the bartenders, the people that work in all these stores,” he said. “This is really a boost, a boost to the wallet as they go into the winter months.”
Tim Kelly sang “God Bless America” on the main stage of the festival and said singing at the biggest Irish festival on the east coast means a lot to him.
“The Irish have come a long way from the famine of many centuries ago to where we are today. We are a vibrant, growing community,” Kelly said. “People who have worked really hard to be where we are today, and I am so proud to be Irish.”
Brandon Goldner
