Our Lady of Mt Carmel Church

Went to a church bazaar here, it was pretty cool. My girlfriend won some italian cookies, there was a Frank Sinatra-​ish singer crooning and making all the older ladies swoon, and they were serving italian sausage sandwiches. There were bouncy houses, and other cool things for the kids, rootbeer floats, etc. And guys winning large deli meats/​cheeses in ticket raffles. Who could ask for more!!! Best Church Bazaar of the season in my opinion had to have been Holy Trinity though… but Mt. Carmel was just magical!

Beer and gambling is the secret that the Italian Mt. Carmel church uses to get people to come to their annual fundraiser. That isn’t what they said, but that is from experience.
This East Highlands Italian church is right smack in the Italian quarter of Denver and has a long history with the neighborhood.
This yearly event that the church puts on pulls in a HUGE crowd of attendants, and since I live down the street, I can honestly tell you there was well over 1,000 people there when I did a walk through. This is on one neighborhood block mind you.
How does a church fair pull in so many people… You never read or hear about this event on the news, so how do you ask, how does the church have thousands and thousands of feast visitors year after year? Well, I am not for sure, but the beer and gambling help, not to mention the incredible food, kiddie rides, games, and new friends, but the truth is that this is an Italian church… Italians have huge families and these families have many friends and so, on and on everyone tells each other through word of mouth.
The line for Italian food is long and a little bit of a wait, but why come to this without really enjoying yourself and joining in on the culture? You can buy Italian apparel, win Italian sausages or pasta machines, and more. Best of all, the fair is free. Just buy your tickets for food or rides and get in line and watch the new comers and old timers enjoy a high carb event.
Future church fair volunteer committee reps take note: the way to bringing in tons of fundraising money is to get as many people to your function as possible, learn from Mt. Carmel’s Church, who even though takes their religious practices very seriously, knows how to do business… Bring in the alcohol and gambling and watch the money stream in.
* Star one for the big fair one street down from me
** Meatball love star two is for the amazing Italian food, worth the wait in line
*** Las Vegas on Navajo star three is for the gambling and alcohol, a true way to get people to forget how much money they are spending
**** Tony and Frankie star four is for the great look of Italians… So much eye candy all on one small block
***** The way HE would want it star five is for the smart business move of the church… One of my favorite events in Denver and you never hear about it…
Note: The event just happened the weekend of July 13−15^th… Try next year.