Time to get our 'Feast' on

In between, there will be plenty of great Italian food, entertainment and fellowship on the downtown streets.

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a tradition stemming from Southern Italy that is held on Christmas Eve. The feast usually consists of seven fish-based dishes, allowing families to abstain from meat until Christmas Day.

Popular fish dishes served during the feast could include baccalà, smelts, calamari, shrimp, octopus, scallops, oysters and more.

Bob Tinnell watched and participated as his family celebrated the tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes as he grew up. His love of the feast first led him to create the “Feast of the Seven Fishes” graphic novel in 2005, before he and other locals gathered to create the first Feast of the Seven Fishes Festival in Fairmont in 2007.

“Initially, it was about preserving the tradition and encouraging people to re-embrace it or connect with their immigrant ancestors,” Tinnell said. “Over the course of it, we realized it became this homecoming thing, and I got excited about the way it just brought everybody in town together. For me, the unexpected side effect was how it became the opportunity to have a significant time spent together with friends, neighbors and family while building authentic holiday memories, as opposed to just going out and buying stuff.”

That first year, the festival was a four-hour event. But through the years, and with the involvement of groups like Main Street Fairmont, the festival has grown to its current status.

“When the event started, it was an event that started from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on one afternoon,” Main Street Fairmont Executive Director Dan Swiger said. “We had a lot of participation from churches and those kinds of things, and it was great to do that when you had small groups of local folks who were wanting to put this event on.

“Unfortunately, those folks have aged out of being able to help with this. Now, we have to look for other ways to keep the tradition alive and make it worthwhile for the vendors. By increasing it to a three-day weekend, it really makes Fairmont a destination for the holiday celebration.”

While the event has grown to the point where not every aspect is celebrating Italian culture, the festival remains true to its roots.

“It’s a very large part of our culture here in the region, and one thing that we’ve tried to do this year is, on the Feast side, focus on Italian food only,” Swiger said. “In years pasts, there have been some other kinds of food that have gotten in, and we’re trying to limit that. We may not have 30 vendors on the Feast side, but we’ll have vendors with all Italian food on that side.”

We applaud the efforts of the Tinnell family, of Main Street Fairmont and the many other organizations that have not only kept Feast of the Seven Fishes alive, but have fostered a network of support that allows it to grow and joint with other efforts in bringing Fairmont and Marion County together.

We encourage all residents of the county, as well as the region, to support this outstanding program.