Westmoreland Arts and Heritage Festival marks half-century

At Seton Hill College in 1974, the first Westmoreland Arts and Heritage Festival had around 20 booths. Fifty years later, the festival will pack 380 booths across 8 acres at Twin Lakes Park east of Greensburg.

“We continue to grow and continue to get recognition locally and nationally,” executive director Diane Shrader said. “Reflecting on way back in 1975, the people who started the organization laid the groundwork for us, and we’ve continued to build on that.”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the event, which is held the first weekend of July. It opens Thursday and runs through Sunday.

Admission is free, and many nonprofits and museums staff booths and exhibits, offering an accessible way to engage with art and culture.

There is parking at and around the Twin Lakes grounds, but use of shuttle buses from three locations nearby is encouraged.

“When we started, there weren’t a lot of these little communities presenting entertainment for free,” Shrader said. “It wasn’t as common to be able to go out and see a live band perform in your neighborhood.”

An eclectic mix of music, theater, arts and crafts and popular food booths is expected to draw thousands of people over the extended holiday weekend. Shrader believes exposure to the arts has merit amid a focus in schools on science and technology careers that can leave the arts behind.

First-time vendor

Crystal Bowman is coming to this year’s festival for the first time. She’ll sell cowboy hats with designs burned or painted onto them.

“I think festivals give people a chance to see art they’ve never seen,” Bowman said. “Those people, or their kids, might say, ‘I can do that!’ and maybe, they’ll go on to do it better.”

Nearly 50 stage presentations will be offered over the four days. Featured concerts will be held by Cash Out, Sourmash, Willow Hill and the Echo Valley Band.

“Maybe not everybody can afford to go to the symphony, but we’ll have symphony music here,” Shrader said. “Maybe someone can’t go to the museum, or maybe they feel intimidated, but they can come look for free and just walk in our exhibit.”

It’s not just exposure that the public gets to artists but also exposure artists get to the public.

“It offers the public quality crafts that people actually make, and it offers the vendors a great outlet,” said Jim Sellinger of JPS Wood, a wooden toy-making company that’s been at the Westmoreland Arts and Heritage Festival for the past 20 years.

“Crafts shows are a numbers game. The more people, the more stuff you can sell,” Sellinger said. “At this festival, everyone does well.”

The festival draws participation from across the country and the world, Shrader said.

The event depends on about 200 volunteers under the direction of Shrader and her daughter, Erin.

Shrader said she hopes the community’s fondness for the festival will encourage an influx of needed volunteers to keep the event going strong.

“We desperately need to keep the community involved in volunteering,” Shrader said. “It’s a group effort. I’ve said before — it takes a village.”

During the festival, Shrader said she likes to walk around and introduce herself.

“You know, there’s other choices that people can take, but they chose to come to the festival, and I’m honored by that,” Shrader said. “They gave their time to come here and see what we’re all about.”