No UFO festival, but Kecksburg firefighters hosting 'Old Fashioned Days'

Kecksburg canceled its annual UFO festival for the second consecutive year this spring, but Friday and Saturday the fire department will host an “Old Fashioned Days” celebration at the fire hall in Mt. Pleasant Township.

Festival chair Ron Struble said the events will take place from 5 to 11 p.m. each day and festivalgoers can enjoy hamburgers, hot dogs, fresh-cut fries, kettle corn and snow cones. There will be a DJ and, at 7 p.m. Saturday, a cornhole tournament with cash prizes awarded for first and second place.

“In the evenings, we plan to have a bonfire where people can toast marshmallows or make s’mores,” Struble said. “We had to cancel this year’s festival, but we still wanted to do something for the community.”

The department’s UFO festival — with rides, games, a large parade and UFO presentations — usually is held annually in July and attracts about 5,000 people. It was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic and was canceled again this spring, even though most of Pennsylvania’s covid-19 mitigation restrictions were lifted May 31.

Struble said the lifting of covid-19 mitigation restrictions came too late in the year to line up vendors.

The festival commemorates an unexplained Dec. 9, 1965, event when several people saw a mysterious object land near the township village.

Although no UFO-related events are planned, the department’s UFO retail shop will be open, as well as the department’s country store.

Friday evening will be half-price night for hamburgers, hot dogs and fries.

The fire department is off Route 982.