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Date: 8/29/2022
HOLYOKE – Invertir Holyoke – a grassroots Hispanic community movement promoting investment in Holyoke – and the Greater Holyoke Chamber have announced plans for the second annual Paper City Food Festival for Oct. 15, from 3 to 9 p.m. on High Street between Appleton and Dwight Streets.
Last year’s festival raised $1,500 for Rays of Hope and this year’s festival will again donate the event’s proceeds to charity. The charity chosen this year is #LaylaStrong, a fundraising effort to aid in medical expenses for Layla, an 11-month-old who suffers from a rare cancerous brain tumor.
Fundraising Coordinator and owner of El Paraiso Colombiano Juan Uribe said each year the event will choose a new charity to donate to.
“It’s been very tough for them [Layla and family], so I tried to use my resources to be able to help them as much as possible,” Uribe said.
Uribe’s wife’s cousin is the mother of Layla, so the cause hits close to home for him and his family. He hopes the money raised can help support the medical bills being faced by the family for their infant daughter.
Overall, Uribe hopes attendees of this year’s Paper City Food Festival are eager to celebrate Holyoke’s diversity and heritage through its food and aims to uplift the businesses and people of the community. That has been the goal of the festival since Uribe decided to go through with the idea a year ago.
Uribe said as a restaurant owner in Holyoke, he wanted to bring others like him together for a festival and celebration of the city’s food and culture.
“I decided to put the Paper City Food Festival together so I can uplift those businesses and people can come down and see what Holyoke has to offer – what we have new and what has been here for a long time,” Uribe said. “Holyoke has a lot of great businesses here and this was just a way to get people down to come and just see what we got.”
The upcoming festival already has secured over two dozen local restaurants and vendors and will feature several hours of live local acts and family fun entertainment. This event will be ongoing alongside Doors Open Holyoke and the Great Holyoke Brick Race, culminating in a big weekend of celebration for the city.
Uribe hopes attendees still make it out and stop by for great food options throughout the busy day in the city and says there will be family activities and alcohol available for adults. He added he anticipates larger participation overall this year.
Invertir is still accepting sponsors for the event and interested parties should contact Uribe at InvertirHolyoke@gmail.com or Jordan Hart of the Holyoke Chamber at jordan@holyokechamber.com.