my 2026 picnics and events
On this page I will list all the picnics, bazaars, festivals, & fairs that I attended during the 2026 picnic season. Also some comments about the event, and my rating of the event.
Due to the issue with my left foot and right knee,(it's no fun getting old) I will most likely only be visiting limited picnics this season. Feel free to e mail your ratings of any picnics you attend and I will publish them.
Saint Joseph's Center
Summer Festival
Grounds of Marywood College
July 25, 2026
Rating 5 ***** out of 5 *
This is one of the best of the season. The food is great and varied. The games are great. The baskets are great. It supports a great cause. I can even stand Corny Joe for the good he does for St. Josephs. No beer tent or entertainment but it is not needed. They could use much more seating. Sometime you have to wait to get a spot to sit and eat. Parking on N. Washington Avenue was easy with a school bus ride to the grounds. I even got a golf cart ride back down to my car. If you missed this one. Then you missed ones of the best. I will be back next year.
Christ the King Picnic
Betty St. Eynon
July 24, 2026
Rating 4 **** and 1/2 * out of 5 *
This is always a nice picnic. The food is good and fairly priced. They had a small flea market in a garage. You were stuck in a small beer cage if you wanted a cold beer. The potato pancakes were great as expected. I was lucky and got a parking spot at the shopping plaza on Main St. again. Seating was limited. No seating to enjoy the band. The band CC Music were ok but not great, but listenable. I will be back next year.
Clifton Hose Company
Picnic and Parade
Route 106 Clifton, PA
July 23, 2026
Rating 5 ***** out of 5 *
This is definitely one of the best of the season. It is a very long ride from Scranton but it is worth it. The food is great and varied. But a little expensive. The roast beef is excellent. They have a chain saw artist. They have vintage rides for the children. Plenty of under cover seating. Plenty of free parking including handicapped parking. The parade was a little unorganized. The local band was good but not great. I will definitely be back next year. Maybe on one of the fireworks nights next time.
Communion of Saints Parish
Summer Picnic
William St. Pitston, PA
July 16, 2026
Rating 3 *** and 1/2 * out of 5 *
This is a small picnic. This year attendance was very light. The food is decent and fairly priced. You can walk around with your beer. Huge indoor flea market. Air conditioned rest rooms. Plenty of parking. This year I parked across the street from the church. The band Bugeye McGuire was basically a garage band but were still listenable. Plenty of seating and chairs to listen to the band. Not exciting but I will be back next year.
Nativity of Our Lord Parish
Summer Picnic
Stevenson St. Duryea, PA
July 11, 2026
Rating 3 *** and 1/2 * out of 5 *
This is a decent picnic. However not as good as other years. Used to be much better at the old location. The shuttle "bus" was very low difficult to get in. I am 6 feet tall and it was a squeeze. Also the shuttle only ran till 9pm. Also it stopped a block away from the grounds. The shuttle should have run till at least 10 or 11 when the picnic was over. The food was good and reasonably priced. There was not enough staff at the food tent. Later they pulled some help from the beer tent and service was better then. At the ice cream tent the children working were more interested in tapping on their phones than helping the customers. They had a huge crowd at the picnic which resulted in very limited seating. The Sperazza Band was excellent as expected. I would have stayed longer if it didn't start to rain and if the shuttle ran longer. This picnic was not as good as other years but I will probably be back next year.
Covington Independent Fire Company
Picnic and Carnival
Route 502 Daleville
July 9, 2026
Rating 3 *** and 1/2 * out of 5 *
The picnic was as expected. They had a new ride company for the children's rides which added some extra seats which was nice. They charge $1 for parking but they had plenty of handicapped parking. The parking lot staff were helpful. The band Electric Rewind was very drum heavy and fair at best. They forgot or changed some of the words to some of the songs. The food was decent to good but VERY EXPENSIVE. I know it helps the fire company but I think they were greedy. $4 for one pancake. $4 for one cut of pizza. $9 for a meatball sandwich. You can walk around with your beer. A good thing is the rest room wasn't as smelly this year. The parade this year was a little lame. Not as good as other years. The staff at the food stands were friendly. It lost some rating this year because of the greedy prices but I will probably be back next year.
Dalton Fire Company
Picnic and carnival
Bank St. Dalton, PA
July 8, 2026
Rating 4 **** out of 5 *
This was a decent picnic as expected. Some handicapped parking on a grassy field. New this year is you exit on a different road which is great because it lands right near the entrance to 6 and 11. The John Bower band was ok. Not great but not bad for a two man band. They had plenty of seating. Games for both children and adults. Several vintage rides for the children. The food was good but very expensive. Much more expensive than other years. The roast beef was excellent. The crowd wasn't as big as other years. You can walk around with your beer in a limited area. Even with the high prices I will be back next year. This is one of the better picnics.
Elmhurst Roaring Brook Fire Company
Summer Picnic
Off Route 435 Elmhurst, PA
June 25, 2026
Rating 5 ***** out of 5 *
This is one of my favorite picnics of the year. The food is great and reasonably priced. The staff is friendly. They have plenty of free handicapped parking. You can walk around with your beer. They moved the pizza stand to where the clams were other years. No clams this year. Moscow Fire company had their very annoying siren at the hot wings stand, but it didn't go off as much this year. The band Group De Gour weren't great but definitely listenable. A huge basket raffle. Games for both children and adults. All your friends from Scranton were there. One of the best of the season. I will be back next year.
Divine Mercy Parish
Summer Picnic
Davis St. Scranton
June 19, 2026
Rating 4 **** and 1/2 * out of 5 *
I haven't been to this picnic for many years since it was very difficult for me to walk three blocks to get to the picnic. WOW! did it change. First the food was great, varied, and reasonably priced as expected. Flaxy Morgan were great as expected. Now the changes. First the good. They completely redid the grounds. There is much more seating where you can view the band. No more beer cage. Walk around with your ice cold beer. The stage is in a much better location. Free shuttle from Mavis tire right to the entrance of the picnic. This was great for me because I can't walk a long distance. Very friendly and courteous staff. Now the bad. They started using those very annoying food tickets. Like I said many times. If you can't trust your volunteers with cash, then don't have the picnic. Normally a picnic loses 1 and 1/2 stars for using food tickets. Divine Mercy only lost 1/2 star because the other changes were so good. Get rid of the food tickets and you will be back to 5 stars again. I will be back next year.
Mary Mother of God Parish
Block Party
West Market St. Scranton
June 12 & 13, 2026
Rating 5 ***** out of 5 *
This is definitely one of the best of the season. The food was great and staff at the food tent were courteous and friendly. The beer was ice cold. They had a diaper derby for the young children. New this year was walking tacos and the Lackawanna Lemonade Company. Friday the Picture Perfect band were amazing. The Holy Cross cheerleaders only did 3 cheers. On Saturday Jim Cerminaro played mellow music for the early night. The Scranton High School cheerleaders put on an enjoyable 1/2 hour show. Very athletic. The band 335 were too guitar heavy. If their sound man mixed better their show would have been better. They played some classic rock and many that I never heard before. The Chatter last year were better. The basket raffle was huge. They also had dining around and the silent auction. Parking was tight as expected. All and all a great picnic, one of the best.
