Wiktoria Pietrzykowska attended the Williamsport Welcomes the World festival on Friday night with one goal in mind.
“It was a dream to try American mac and cheese,” said the 24-year-old from Poland, who did indeed get her mac and cheese.
It was a well earned treat after volunteering at the Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS). The event ran from Aug. 14 until today at the Little League International Complex in South Williamsport.
The festival in downtown Williamsport, meanwhile, was designed for tourists from around the globe attending the series. Streets were blocked off to accommodate food trucks, vendors and musicians.
Williamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jason Fink expected close to 20,000 people to attend.
“It continues to grow. We have more vendors this year than ever,” Fink said.
With close to 80 vendors filling the streets, both the chamber and the city of Williamsport jointly produce the event, which started 14 years ago.
With thousands attending the Grand Slam parade, which is held each year prior to the opening of the LLBWS every year, Williamsport Welcomes the World was conceived as a new way to attract people downtown.
“People are going into businesses and eating at restaurants. It showcases how awesome downtown Williamsport is,” said Fink as he manned a table selling t-shirts adorned with the city's name.
That could mean a boon to Denyse Miele’s business, Gustonian Gifts, but she isn’t at the fest to just sell merchandise.
“It’s nice seeing new people and seeing the people that come every year,” Miele said.
From her corner at Pine and 4th Streets, where her business sits, Miele met tourists from Austin, Texas and Watertown, New York. She points out the event also gives locals a chance to reconnect with each other.
She said, “It’s definitely a community event.”
Because so many locals attend, Horizon Federal Credit Union in Williamsport wanted to have a presence there. Their mascot Hedgie posed for pictures with kids, while their booth offered a cash cube, where some attendees could catch swirling bills around them in the plastic enclosure.
“One of our big initiatives is to give back to the community we serve,” said Michael Patterson, Chief Branding Officer for the credit union.
For Raymond Stoltzfus of Elimsport, this is his first year at the festival with his Amish food stand. It was such a last minute decision to join the event he didn’t have time to come up with a name for his business. Crowds gathered around him as he and his 1930s John Deere engine churned out handmade ice cream, which sold briskly.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” he said.
As for Pietrzykowska, she hopes to attend the festival and volunteer at the series again next year.
She said, “I learned that people here are so kind and Little League keeps people together and I made a lot of friends. Baseball has a new fan from Poland.”
While the event is meant to welcome all, it is actually a goodbye to the thousands of people who came for the LLBWS, before it concludes this weekend.
“Why not do something as a send-off,” Fink said.