Members of the Scottdale Fall Festival committee are excited to have the Wallendas back this year to help the festival celebrate its 40th anniversary.
The high wire, acrobatic family first made their appearance at the festival in 2009 after organizer Rick Thomas heard of the group and thought they would make a great fit.
“Rick Thomas wanted to do something larger and free for the community that would add another element to the festival and expand us into the future,” said Thomas Szczygiel, program and website chairman for the festival.
Although the Wallendas who will be at the festival are not part of the act of Nic Wallenda who crossed the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, they are part of the same family and have a very unique act of their own.
The World Famous Wallenda Troupe, headed up by Rick Wallenda, offer up daredevil stunts and high wire entertainment.
Peggy Thomas, a member of the festival committee, said they will be bringing a whole new act to Scottdale than what they have done in the past.
The Wallendas have been part of the festival in both 2009 and again in 2011, setting up and performing their act in Loucks Park, just a few blocks from the main festival area.
“This gets people up and moving to see the wonderful town of Scottdale, and it's really just a great place for the act,” Szczygiel said.
The Wallendas will be performing their first show at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 21, and the students from Southmoreland Elementary School will be invited to walk down and enjoy the performance.
The last performance that day will be at 8:15 p.m. On Sept. 20, the performances will be at 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. and on Sunday the shows are scheduled for 2:45 and 5:15 p.m.
“This is one of the biggest acts or events that we bring in to the festival and the community just really seems to enjoy their performance,” Szczygiel said. “When we announced on Facebook that the Wallendas would be back, we got a great response. People really are excited and happy to see them again.”
Rachel Basinger is a contributing writer.
