PITTSTON – Downtown Pittston Partnership will be holding the NEPA Spring Outdoors Arts/Crafts Festival on Saturday, April 22, at the Tomato Festival grounds in conjunction with the start of the Lu Lacka Wyco Hundo (LLWH) bicycle trek that will begin in Pittston. Trek Bike Co. is the official sponsor of the run.
More than 650 bikers will start off at Pittston on Sunday, April 23, but the day before the 50- to 100-mile trek, 75 vendors will be setting up booths at the Tomato Festival lots with activities running from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
According to Mary Kroptavich, crafters and artists will take part in the outdoor festival in this rain or shine event. Many of the vendors will be appearing in the city for the first time.
“Many of the 650 bikers will be bringing in their families and we wanted them to have something to do, so we decided to hold the arts and crafts festival as well as food trucks, music and other events planned,” Kroptavich said. “The response from artists and crafters to have a booth has been incredible. Many of them will be setting up a booth in the city for the first time. This is a big, big deal for downtown.”
DJ Jimmy Lombardo will provide the entertainment for the Arts/Crafts Festival.
Kroptavich said all businesses in downtown Pittston would be open business on the Arts/Crafts Festival.
“Six hundred and fifty people are coming into town, not to watch a parade, but they are coming in to with things to do like visit downtown shops,” Kroptavich said. “We organized the event and we organized and coordinated with the downtown merchants.”
“This is big and it’s an exciting event and it’s a great opportunity for our businesses downtown,” Kroptavich added. “It’s really a great chance to showcase our Main St.”
Patrick Engleman coordinates the LLWH, in its 10th year of running the bike trek.
