Peabody International Festival 2012

Northshore Acappella sings Smokey Robinson’s My Girl to the Peabody International Festival Crowd.

On Sunday, over 24 entertainers sang and danced on 3 stages in downtown Peabody for the 29th annual International Festival. I stumbled across this event 3 years ago and have made it a point to go every year since then. You can walk from one end of a jam-packed Lowell street to the other sampling a variety of ethnic cuisines and visiting over 60 different booths belonging to businesses, churches, PTAs, Boy Scout troops, nonprofits and ethnic clubs of Peabody. Irish, Portuguese, Greek and Polish are just a few of the nationalities represented.

The festival was founded by former mayor and city councilor Peter Torigian as a way of celebrating Peabody’s diverse ethnic heritage.  I hope the following photos give you a taste of the event. For more information, see this article in the Salem News.

Northshore Acappella sings Smokey Robinson’s My Girl to the Peabody International Festival Crowd.

Northshore Acappella

Northshore Acappella

Plaque at entrance to Peabody Common

The Italian Serenaders

Those gloves filled with popcorn and candy do not appeal to me at all!

Congregations Son of Israel booth display.

Mayor Edward Bettencourt, Jr. speaks at the Festival ceremony bestowing the Peter Torigian award to someone who has worked or participated in the festival. State Rep. John Tierney, in the background, also spoke.

The Irish duo Belclare

Tagged: Belclare, International Festival, Northshore Acappella, Peabody Massachusetts, Peter Torigian

Posted in: Diversity