Children dressed as their favorite saints for a Catholic trunk-or-treat, a petting zoo drew young visitors, and carnival games and live music filled the grounds of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Orefield on Sunday as the Diocese of Allentown marked 65 years with a free family festival. The celebration ran from noon until 4:30 p.m. and closed with an All Saints' Day Mass led by Bishop Alfred A. Schlert.
The festival was one piece of a yearlong celebration for the diocese, which, according to WFMZ.com, opened the day with a blessing and opening remarks from Bishop Schlert before the games, music and food got underway. The diocese itself traces its roots to January 28, 1961, when it was formed after five counties were separated from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, according to allentowndiocese.org. Today the diocese covers Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton and Schuylkill counties, per the same source.
Saints, Games and Parish Food Fill the Grounds
Beyond the trunk-or-treat and petting zoo, the festival's lineup included carnival games and live music, along with food contributed by parishes from across the diocese, each dish inspired by that parish's own history and traditions, the station's report notes. The gathering was framed around the diocese's broader 2026 theme, which the diocese has described as a celebration of “faith, family, and community,” according to a listing from St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Parish. Bishop Schlert reflected on that theme in remarks shared with the station, saying the Diocese of Allentown has been a family of faith for 65 years and that gathering as families was an ideal way to mark the milestone.
Schlert also spoke to the symbolism behind the children's costumes, saying he hoped young people would be inspired by the saints they chose to dress as, and that he looked forward to welcoming everyone and celebrating Mass together at the day's close, per the same account. The festival's closing Mass, held at 4:30 p.m., doubled as the parish's observance of All Saints' Day.
A Yearlong Milestone With More Events on the Calendar
The Orefield festival is not the only marker of the diocese's 65th year. Bishop Schlert has declared 2026 a Eucharistic and Marian Year of Grace for the diocese, according to allentowndiocese.org, and the anniversary calendar has included a Eucharistic Rosary Congress held in Berks County in early October, along with a Commission for Men Conference and a Mass of Thanksgiving featuring a presentation from music ministers.
That Mass of Thanksgiving was held earlier in the year, on April 11, at the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena in Allentown, where Bishop Schlert celebrated the service at 4:15 p.m., according to a separate report from wfmz.com. Together, the spring Mass and Sunday's family festival bookended a year the diocese has built around faith and community gatherings across its five-county territory.
