Heat Keeps Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival Crowds Down in Wheeling
Record-breaking high temperatures over the weekend had a dampening effect on the crowds to the Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival, leading to several vendors and patrons cutting their time at Heritage Port short.
Several vendors had already packed up by 4 p.m. Saturday evening, with many vendors reporting poor turnout for the normally busy festival weekend.
One vendor named Beth, who declined to give her last name, came in to sell handmade goods, but began taking down her displays in the early afternoon, with a comparatively light crowd watching the last few hours of the celebration.
“It’s too hot. People aren’t coming out. I don’t blame them. It’s been a bad year,” she said. “I’m packing up and I still have two hours left. You can’t help it. It’s July.”
Daytime temperatures reached 93 degrees Sunday, before clouds rolled in, reducing the heat but turning up the humidity. Saturday’s high of 96 degrees broke the previous high set in the 1950s.
Even vendors for product promising relief from the heat reported below-average results. Wheeling Police Lt. Phil Redford, who operates a frozen lemonade stand, said that even coming up a little short in sales, the refreshments table did markedly better than the neighboring salespeople.
“I would say we’re a little below average compared to last year, just because it’s so hot, the people didn’t come out,” Redford said. “Comparable to a lot of the other vendors, we did a lot better here just because we sell solely drinks.”
Returning to the Festival in 2016, as every year, was a first aid tent manned by the Wheeling Fire Department to provide respite for those overcome by the heat.
“We’ve had to deal with several people who had been overcome by the heat,” said Assistant Fire Chief Larry Murphy.
Murphy said the department came out in force, expecting complications from the heat, but despite assisting numerous individuals the situation remained quiet, though always on alert.
“That’s why we came out with all the cooling vests, the mister to cool people down, and everything else is ready,” he said. “We’ve been prepared.”
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