We took on the 38th Annual Chester County Restaurant Festival yesterday. This festival, which hosts roughly 180 vendors, is one of the staples that makes West Chester such a bustling borough. I chatted with my friends, Alyssa Oxner and Alex Roldan, about their views on the day’s activities.
“The festival really brings people into downtown that normally wouldn’t come to this area,” she stated. “A lot of 
people come in and you actually have trouble finding parking. I think that’s a good sign.”
“And the restaurants are all out there with these vendors,” Alex joined in. “It’s a wonderful town with wonderful people.”
I talked with Keith Kurowski, director of the West Chester Parks and Recreation Department, about the facts and figures from this year’s festivities.
“We’ve been planning this year’s festival since about when last year’s ended,” Keith described. “We have over 180 vendors here this year and we have accommodate all of them and keep them all happy, or else this event doesn’t happen.”
The Parks and Recreation Department estimated that 25,000 to 30,000 people were in attendance throughout the day, between their hours of 12 to 5:30pm.
“I think [the attendance] has been pretty much holding steady. We hardly even advertise for it anymore,” he said. “I think now more people are getting the gist and they’re coming earlier. The event starts at 12pm, but a lot of people are here at 11:15am.. So they get in, they get their food and their drinks and they head out. It’s 2:30pm right now and it’s packed.”
But no matter how much work is involved in setting up this festival, the one thing Keith has always loved seeing during his eight years as director are people having a good time and enjoying themselves.
“This is one of the events that makes West Chester a very cool place to live and visit,” he said. “It’s the people that make it what it is. There’s nothing like it.”
Check out the Parks and Recreation Department for more information on upcoming events.
