Polish Town fair is canceled again this year

The Polish Town Fair and Street Festival has been canceled again this year, a representative of the Polish Town Civic Association, which sponsors the fair, told RiverheadLOCAL today.

Joyce Bressack, acting president of the Polish Town Civic Association, said the fair won’t be back this year.

“It’s unfortunate,” Bressack said. “It’s sad.” She did not provide an explanation and couldn’t say whether the group would try to hold the street fair next year. That decision has to be made by the civic organization’s board of directors, Bressack said.

The iconic Riverhead street fair first took place in August 1975 continued through its 45th annual event in 2019. It was canceled by COVID in 2020 has not returned. Civic association officials said in 2021 pandemic restrictions were not lifted early enough in the year to allow the group to apply for the required permits and line up vendors.

Last year, the death of event chairperson Kay Davis in February was followed by a flood in the civic’s association headquarters required extensive remediation, according to the group’s treasurer Rob Gottschalk. That made planning the fair impossible.

Gottschalk said last June the event would return in 2023. The group did not file an application with the town seeking a permit to host the event, Riverhead Town Clerk Diane Wilhelm said last month. Gottschalk did not respond to a phone message earlier this month.

The fair typically attracted thousands of visitors to Polish Town USA each summer, to browse and shop some 250 vendor booths, sample Polish food specialities and enjoy Polka music and Polish culture. In its heyday, the street fair and festival had rides and a midway, a polka dance festival, and a mock traditional Polish wedding, followed by a parade and performances by Polish dancers and Polka bands on the town snowmobile, where the Polish Town queen was crowned.