Fairs and festivals season isn't over yet this year, there's still a few more weeks to celebrate different heritages and cultures around the area.


Seeing people line up before the gates open is a familiar sight for organizer of the German Heritage Festival, Melissa Lesniewski. According to Lesniewski, "Every year we see the same people coming back and forth. Now we see them with their children and their grandchildren. So people come and they spend the whole day because there is entertainment, and they can walk the whole grounds, and just enjoy the beautiful day we are having today."


Her mother, Beverly Pochatko, was one of the original founders of the German festival almost thirty years ago. As Pochatko recalls, "I started with a little bit of genealogy and I thought, 'there's all these German places in Erie and we have nothing', and that's when I got started. I started the chapter and we had a lot of Germans at that time and they were happy and we evolved from there and started the big festivals."


As the festival grew through the years, so did the need for a bigger space, which is where St. Nick's Grove came in. It has been the home for the German Festival for the past several years. 
As Pochatko described, "It gives you the same feeling as if you were in Germany and that to me was the important part being outside."


From when it began from over twenty years ago, to today, organizers said there's something special about seeing some of the same people come back year after year. Pochatko said she loves hearing the stories from people who never miss a year, "People come and go and it's fun when people come and wear the original tee shirt."


Although summer may be winding down, people make it a priority to stop by for one last summer hurrah. As Lesniewski said, "Because it is the end of summer and we try to cram in that last little bit and a lot of people like to go on vacation. But they make this a part of it. So people travel up from Pittsburgh, Cleveland, all over the tri-state area to attend the festival and make it a part of their weekend plans."


The German Heritage Festival continues Sunday from 11:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. at St. Nick's Grove.

Admission is $5 a person, kids twelve and under are free.