2026 St. Gerard Parish Festival MAY 29-31

05/29/2026

BEHIND THE SCENES: FESTIVAL PREP

There are too many food options to list at the festival! Whether you're looking for chicken wings, fair fries, pizza, tenderloins, tamales, a burger, or a sweet treat...we've got you covered! On Thursday night, some of our volunteers gathered for a very important meeting: quality control! Each food booth offered up some samplings, and everything is DELICIOUS.

There are plenty of places to kick back and relax thanks to the LCC football players! We can't thank them enough for setting up all of the tables and chairs.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of the St. Gerard Festival. We hope you can feel the love when you visit us this weekend!

05/29/2026

There are lots of fun new rides this year! BUMPER CARS, plenty for the littles, about 50 ways to spin, and more!

The presale for ride vouchers has ended, but you can still purchase vouchers at the festival for $25 each.

On Friday and Saturday ride tickets will be sold until 9 PM, with the rides open until 10:00.

On Sunday the rides will close at 8, with ticket sales ending at 7PM.

We can't wait to see you!

05/28/2026

Time to find your dancing shoes...the festival starts TOMORROW!

05/26/2026

05/23/2026

For a lot of people in Lima, the St. Gerard Festival is more than just another summer event.

It is part of the story of this city.

Generations of families grew up with it — grandparents, parents, children, classmates, parishioners, neighbors, and old friends meeting back under the tent year after year.

Fish sandwiches. Raffle tickets. Rides. Games. Summer evenings. Running into people you have not seen in years.

But behind all of that is something much deeper.

St. Gerard Parish was founded in 1916, during a time when Lima’s Catholic population was growing so rapidly that the city’s existing parishes could no longer support it alone. The Redemptorist Fathers came to Lima and established what would become one of the defining Catholic communities on Lima’s north end.

Then in 1918, St. Gerard School opened.

For generations, the parish and school helped shape Catholic life in this part of Lima through worship, education, sacrifice, family life, and community traditions.

This year marks the 46th St. Gerard Festival, a Lima tradition that began in 1979.

And festivals like this used to be a much bigger part of Catholic life in America.

Parishes were not just places people attended for an hour on Sunday. They were communities. Schools, festivals, dinners, sports, parish halls, volunteer groups, fish fries, processions, and shared traditions created a real Catholic culture that connected generations together.

The St. Gerard Festival is one of the remaining pieces of that older world.

For decades, events like this also helped support Catholic schools and parish life through volunteer labor, fundraising, and strong community participation.

So let’s hear the stories.

Did you go to St. Gerard School?
Did your family belong to the parish?
Did you work the festival? Sell raffle tickets? Work food stands? Ride the rides as a kid?

What memories stand out most?

And what do younger generations today not fully understand about what St. Gerard once meant to Lima?

Share old stories, names, photos, traditions, favorite foods, and festival memories below.

These things matter.

Once a community loses its memory, it usually loses much more than that.

05/22/2026

HEY LIMA, This could be you! Grab a buddy and your dancing shoes, and head to the St. Gerard Festival...this time NEXT WEEK!!

05/22/2026

We'd like to give a HUGE SHOUTOUT to the newest leaders of the school. These St. Gerard soon-to-be 8th graders helped with festival prep in a big way today. Teamwork makes the dream work!