Holy Family Catholic Community to celebrate 25 years with three-day festival

As Holy Family Catholic Community turns 25 this year, the parish will welcome the greater Fond du Lac community to celebrate with them as they host a weekend of fun, delicious food, and entertainment for the whole family to enjoy at their 25th Anniversary Festival.

Holy Family Catholic Community was established on July 1, 2000, after six parishes — Sacred Heart, Saint Joseph, Saint Louis, Saint Mary, Saint Patrick, and Saint Peter — made the decision to consolidate into one parish. Now comprised of Holy Family, Our Risen Savior, Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sacred Heart, Saint Mary, and Saint Peter Churches, the parish is home to more than 5,700 families in the area, spanning from Eldorado to North Fond du Lac, and St. Peter/Malone.

“Looking back over the past 25 years, I am proud of the many ways that our parish has adapted, grown together, helped parishioners to deepen their faith, and cared for our neighbors. It is a blessing to be able to celebrate this milestone with such a vibrant parish,” Holy Family Catholic Community Pastor, Very Rev. Ryan J Pruess, said.

When preparing to celebrate the 25th anniversary, parish staff and volunteers wanted to create an experience that both parishioners and the greater Fond du Lac community could enjoy, as the history of the parish is so closely tied to that of Fond du Lac itself. The result? A three-day long festival featuring a wide variety of food and entertainment that can be appreciated by people of all ages.

The festival, set to take place Friday, August 15-Sunday, August 17, will begin with a fish fry at Avenue 795, 795 Fond du Lac Ave. The fish fry will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 pm and feature music from the Mike Schneider Polka Band. The menu will also feature dishes like flatbreads, Farmers Market salads, chicken and prime rib

sandwiches, and food for the kids! Prices range from $14-$22. Reservations are recommended by calling Avenue 795 at (920) 921-1290.

On Saturday, August 16, the festivities will move to the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds Recreation Center, 520 Fond du Lac Ave. Admission to the festival is free, with food and tickets for select experiences available for purchase.

The day will begin with a French toast breakfast from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm, and include kids’ entertainment, such as the music show, Kids’ Songs with Larry Goebel at 9:15 am and the Zoomalata Comedy Show at 10:00 am.

A variety of food will be available for purchase, from pulled pork sandwiches and mac and cheese, to tacos, nachos, and sweet treats! Summery drinks will also be on the menu, including flavored waters and beer.

Children will have a great time bouncing on inflatable obstacle courses, testing their aim at inflatable axe throwing, and playing Giant Connect 4. Families also enjoy the creations of a balloon twister and take horse-drawn wagon rides around the fairgrounds. There will also be opportunities to win prizes at the human slot machine, basket raffle, and 50/50 raffle. Many of these activities will be available on both Saturday and Sunday.

Throughout the weekend, attendees will have the opportunity to support the Holy Family Warming Shelter by participating in its leaf fundraiser. It costs $35 per person per day to care for guests at the Holy Family Warming Shelter throughout its 180-day season. To help cover this cost, attendees can purchase a “leaf” at the festival for $35 to fund a guest’s stay. For their donation, their name – or the name of a person they chose to donate in honor of – will be written on a leaf and incorporated into a mural at the shelter this upcoming season.

The weekend will also feature a variety of live music from bands spanning a wide range of genres, including rock, folk, mariachi, and comedy. Headliners Cat 5, Lighthouse Big Band, and Dorf Kapelle are sponsored by Fond du Lac Area Foundation, Joe & Dawn Colwin Family Foundation Fund, Michels Corporation, and Wrightway Home Improvements. Kids Songs with Larry Goebel and the Zoomalata Comedy Show are sponsored by Holiday Automotive.

For a full schedule of music, please visit hffdl.org/event/25-fest

From 4:00 to 5:30 pm on Saturday, August 16, the 17-piece Lighthouse Big Band will play jazz and big band classics of the 1930s and 1940s and contemporary big bands, as well as put their own spin on rock and fusion music. From 7:00 to 9:00 pm on Saturday evening, the headlining band, Cat 5, will cap off the night, performing covers of today’s top artists like Pink, Bruno Mars, Meghan Trainor, and Eric Church, as well as classic rock and country favorites from Heart, Charlie Daniels, Journey, and Johnny Cash.

On Sunday, August 17, the final day will kick off at 10:00 am at the Recreation Center with a festival tradition: a bilingual Mass fit with an altar and beautiful music.

“Jesus said that ‘where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them (Matthew 18:20),’ and that includes at the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds. Mass was always a staple of our past Fairgrounds festivals, and we look forward to returning there, and bringing together our community to worship and celebrate,” Pruess said.

Following the Mass, the German folk band, Dorf Kapelle, will perform folk music from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Switzerland, including waltzes, polkas, and marches, as well as takes from “the Great American Songbook,”— all in authentic German attire, according to its website.

The Zoomalata Comedy Show and Mariachi de Sol Madison will also perform. The afternoon will also include food options, like Hispanic cuisine and other sweet treats and refreshments.

The festival will conclude at 5:00 pm on Sunday.

“While we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of our parish, we are really celebrating the enduring Catholic faith as well. The Catholic Church has been present in Fond du Lac for as long as it has been a city, and we cannot wait to welcome the whole community to celebrate with us over what is sure to be an incredible weekend,” Pruess said.