Not even globalism could save the longstanding tradition of an Oktoberfest in September at St. Joseph Catholic Church and School. Those days are really over now.
For 44 years, St. Joseph held a tasty fundraiser that grew into a signature event for Vancouver. At the height of its success, the annual Sausage Fest — also a beer fest, music fest and carnival — reportedly drew as many as 100,000 hungry visitors in a single weekend, and raised at least that many dollars for St. Joseph.
“It really saved the junior high school, back in the 1970s,” said the Rev. Gary Lazzeroni. Who could resist arts and crafts sales, activities for kids, a pop-up Bavarian village and armies of dancers in lederhosen?
But times change, and maybe even sausage goes out of style. Dwindling attendance in the last few years prompted St. Joseph to declare 2014 the Sausage Fest’s swan song.
“That’s why we called an end to it,” Lazzeroni said. “But then this group emerged that said, let’s try it one more year, we have some ideas, let’s make it a broader with international foods.”
Parent volunteer Shelton Louie in particular said he refused to see the tradition die. He just thought it needed to get global, and told The Columbian he’d been wondering for years: What about Mexican food? What about Asian and Italian food? Wouldn’t this throwback regain some traction if it was more diverse and contemporary?
Apparently the answer is, not really. Last year’s eager reboot, the International Food Festival, wound up a one-time event.
“It just generated so little income for all that effort,” Lazzeroni said. “It just doesn’t seem to be something we can sustain.”
There will be no more food festivals at St. Joseph. Lazzeroni said there’s a feeling of disappointment but a larger sense of relief.
“We’re at peace with that,” he said. “The one regret is that it was a great community event. To lose that is hard for us. But it used to be the only game in town, and that’s just not true anymore.”
