As members of her team served up wood fired pizza, Alice Guerriero could not help but smile.
“It’s been good, not overwhelming,” the co-owner of Avella’s Wood Fired Oven said as the orders kept coming at Peace Park. “It’s been steady.”
Avella’s was one of a half a dozen food vendors on hand for the second week of the Pelham Summer Chill series at Peace Park. Hot and humid weather continued into the evening hours as visitors enjoyed a night of food and music at the park. The main entertainment for the evening was a performance by blues performer Dawn Tyler Watson, who kicked off the Thursday Night Concert Series at the Fonthill Bandshell.
“We were here last year. It’s a great event,” Guerriero said.
For Dave Rose, of Welland, coming to Summer Chill has always been on his to-do list for years. He was at Thursday’s event with a group of friends, including Sue and Gary Shepherd, along with Alex Burse.
“We all come every week,” he said. “It’s a great place for hanging around with people.”
The event also featured a pop-up Indigenous Market as a part of the Town’s marking of National Indigenous Peoples Day.
Lauren Phillips, special events and festivals coordinator for the Town, said Summer Chill is a great community event.
“It’s nice to see so many people,” she said. “It’s nice to bring the community together with local vendors at the farmers market.”
Indigenous artist Rick Langlois was one of the vendors at the Indigenous market. He lauded the Town for its efforts to include the Indigenous community and said he wished it would happen more often.
“I’d like to see more of this, not just for an Indigenous week,” he said.
Phillips, meanwhile, said the Town would welcome Indigenous vendors at more events such as Summerfest.
“We’d like to make those connections,” she said.
Thursday’s event was the second week of the series for 2024. The event runs every Thursday night in tandem with the Pelham Farmers Market until Sept. 5. The Bandshell concerts run from 7-9 p.m. Next week’s concert will feature The Guess Who tribute band No Sugar Tonight.
More information on Summer Chill may be found at www.pelham.ca while more information on the Bandshell concert series is available at www.fonthillbandshell.com
