Fort Ligonier Days festival provides economic boost for the town and beyond

Fort Ligonier Days is one of the most successful annual festivals in Westmoreland County.

It’s also a powerful economic engine.

“The foot traffic into our store is tenfold, maybe even more,” said Jan Mikan, owner of The Cat’s Meow gift boutique and Hidden Valley Antiques on Ligonier’s West Main Street. “There are just so many people who come to the festival.”

The atmosphere during the three-day event that began Friday, she said, is “blissful chaos.”

According to the festival organizing committee, the Saturday morning parade alone draws up to 60,000 people — as long as there’s no rain.

While the town gains more than 200 temporary vendor booths during the event, the brick-and-mortar stores attract their fair share of customers.

Food booths arrayed around the town’s central Diamond intersection have been shifted this year to provide pedestrians more clear paths to the merchants located behind them.

Those merchants got a jump start on the weekend by beginning sidewalk sales Thursday.

“People can get a head start on their shopping when we don’t have such large crowds,” said Amy Beitel, executive director of the Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to patronizing vendors and businesses in downtown Ligonier, some of the visitors who are attracted to Fort Ligonier Days are leaving behind dollars in surrounding areas of Westmoreland County.

“Every year the festival does bring a big boost in tourism and visitor traffic to Ligonier and Westmoreland County, both in day trippers and in people who come and spend the night,” said Laura Argenbright, senior director of creative strategy for Go Laurel Highlands, a regional visitors bureau headquartered in Ligonier.

During the period of Thursday through Sunday associated with the 2024 Fort Ligonier Days festival, Argenbright said, Westmoreland County saw average per-visitor spending of $345 on accommodations, $75 at retail establishments and $54 at restaurants.

Of visitors to the county during those days, 63% hailed from outside of Pennsylvania.

Argenbright also was able to focus on the Ligonier area, using a platform that tracked 2024 data from credit card purchases and mobile phone use.

Those numbers indicated a 62% increase in overall spending during last year’s four-day festival weekend compared to the average of spending during the four preceding weekends.

Spending increased by 146% among visitors and by 50% among Ligonier-area residents.

Retail spending increased by 245% while spending at restaurants was up by 94%.

“All the merchants have to hire extra help for this festival,” said Mikan, who sells antiques and gifts. “This event really helps the merchants get through the winter, when things are slow.”

Mikan said festival visitors are attracted to the town’s diverse shops.

“It seems they like unique gifts, things you can’t find at the mall,” she said.

Another West Main gift store owner, My Honeybee’s Brenda Shaffer, agrees.

“The festival brings people from all over,” she said, including a former Ligonier resident who travels from Alabama every year for the event.

While a number of other special events attract people to Ligonier throughout the year, Shaffer said, “Fort Days is just in a whole other realm.”

Cheryl Finlay owns the Wooden Mantel on Ligonier’s South Market Street, offering a mix of new and used items including home décor, gifts and handmade wares from local artisans.

She said purchases made during the festival weekend represent a significant part of her annual sales.

“It carries on over into the holiday season,” she said. “It’s really a jump-start to everything that’s coming in November and December.”

She has expanded her store hours during the festival weekend.

“I’ve had to recruit my children to help me,” she said. “It’s been that intense with the traffic flow. It’s three days in a row; you have to have a lot of stamina to make it through.”