The recent Legionnaires’ disease outbreak caused the Catholic Church, St. Francis of Assisi Parish, to relocate the annual Francis Fest.

Father Kyle Tietz said volunteers were very flexible and kind with the change of venue and the decision being made on Sept. 23, so close to the event date.

“We just had questions around Legionnaires,'” he said. “But we recognize the festival has its origins on First [Street] by St. Mary’s. We certainly want to think about making sure we celebrate our St. Mary’s location. It’s just a move for this year. We will see how things go.”

Fortunately, Tietz said many hands make light work. The set up of tables and organization of different festival aspects went relatively smoothly. Plus, the tear down and clean up only takes about an hour, he added.

“That’s impressive and we appreciate that,” Tietz said.

Held yesterday on the St. Henry campus on Olive Street, between 500 to 600 people attended. Tietz said the number of attendees was similar to previous years. He loved how everyone organized closer together to enjoy fellowship, food and games.

“Several people commented that it feels like a block party,” Tietz said. “That’s a good feeling for the parish, for the community.”

He was happy to see a few new foods at the festival, such as mole and different kinds of quesadillas, and different entertainers. This year, Pat Kirner was in charge of getting the Francis Fest entertainment, which included Rosa Vargas, the St. Francis School Kids Choir, Kim Kups Dance, the Prairie Creek String Band and even Tietz’s juggling skills.

“I try to find somebody who has connections to St. Francis,” she said. “There’s somebody in every group who is a parishioner.”

Kirner was happy with the festival, even with the new location. There are always some positives which come from change, she said.

“I think both places work fine, and it’s been so long at St. Mary’s that we had some kinks worked out, but having the backdrop of the school for the wind is helpful,” Kirner said. “There’s more shade here. The playground is here. The bathrooms are handy and there are more of them.”

The work which had to be done with the quick turnaround in location did create a little hassle, she said. For example, some of the equipment for the stage and sound is kept at St. Mary’s. Fortunately, one of the parishioners has very large trucks. All of the equipment was moved in “one fell swoop.”

Like Tietz, Kirner enjoyed the huge variety of food which was her favorite festival aspect.

“It’s hard to eat it all,” she said, laughing.

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.