Ethnic festival is back in South Bend, in hopes of funding education

A local South Bend church is hosting its annual summer festival in hopes of collecting enough funds to keep their Catholic school going.

Richard Kotzenmacher, a volunteer, says things have changed and now families living in the area have to pay much more than before.

“Now you have to pay and that’s a hardship on a lot of families,” says Kotzenmacher. “Our main concern is making sure we can stay and help another group of students next year.”

Kotzenmacher has been a volunteer of Our Lady of Hungary’s festival since he can remember. He says this festival is something for everyone. Games for kids, live bands, Hungarian food and Latin food will be in the same vicinity, making this parish one of the few places that still has an ethnic festival.

Our Lady Summer Festival will start at 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. The parish itself is running on its 101 year and the school is on its 90th anniversary.

In this school Kotzenmacher says there is a good mix of Anglos, African Americans and Latinos, which is a great representation of this neighborhood and ultimately of what America really is.

“Education is just the most important thing. This is the most important thing,” he says. “We have almost 200 young men and woman here who are trying to get a head start and a lot of the money that we raise tomorrow will be used for the school and those kids.”

This festival has been growing strong for about 40 years and every year it has grown more.