Northampton celebrates community on Sept. 13
The mission of the Northampton Days Festival is simple: bring the community together and showcase local businesses.
Chris Scarpill, spokeswoman for the event and a resident of Northampton since 1986, said the Northampton Days Festival has been around for 13 years. It was something the township supervisors at the time had long sought to do — offer a festival similar to the one offered in Southampton, Scarpill said.
Though it’s now a misnomer, Northampton Days used to be a two-day event, comprising a run and a festival. Due to lack of interest, the former was dropped, leaving just the festival.
However, the Sept. 13 festival offers up quite a bit of entertainment on its own, including a talent show, a parade at noon and a car show.
Ed Ingle has been organizing the car show since the inception of Northampton Days. Ingle said he was approached by the chairman of the festival, who knew that Ingle was involved in other car shows and was a car enthusiast in general.
Ingle, who drives a ’99 Porsche Cabriolet (which he won’t be showing) puts the show together with help from his wife, Kris.
The judged show has 16 classifications, and awards for “People’s Choice,” and “Supervisor’s Choice.”
Though it’s just one aspect of Northampton Days, Ingle said the car show really brings families together.
“I’ll overhear fathers telling their children, ‘This is the kind of car I drove when I was a teenager,’ or ‘I always wanted one of these,’ or ‘My friends had one of these and it brings back memories,’” Ingle said. “You hear a lot of comments like that, and it’s a good family event. The car show is one piece of the family-oriented action.”
Registration for the car show is $20 at the door.
“We’ve tried to do things differently over the years,” Scarpill said. “We’ve added more vendors to bring in more people. When you first start out, you’re taking baby steps. We knew we couldn’t do it along the lines of [the weeklong] Southampton Days, so what we’ve done was add different vendors, we got the rescue squad involved, there’s a shredding event, and we got the police department involved.”
She adds that the parade is larger and now includes the schools and the fire companies, and there is a lot more variety with the food. The festival will also feature the Phillie Phanatic, the Phillies’ ball girls, and the Eagles’ mascot, Swoop. Other events include a dance competition, a blood drive, a helicopter landing, and a bocce challenge between the supervisors and residents of the senior center.
On the Northampton Days Festival committee for five years, Scarpill, a real estate agent, said she wanted to give back to the community.
“A fellow real estate agent of mine was on the committee, so I went to the meetings, and decided that the public relations side would best fit me,” Scarpill said.
Northampton Days is funded through sponsors and vendors. Though the committee usually just brings in enough money to cover its expenses. Scarpill said the festival is not a money-generating event, adding that last year the event lost money.
Scarpill said that prior to Northampton Days, the township did not have any kind of event to bring the community together.
“We usually bring in between 8,000 to 10,000 people,” Scarpill said. “We really have tried to make this a family tradition — that was our goal.”
The Northampton Days Festival will take place Sept. 13 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the corner of Upper Holland and Township roads, Richboro, across the street from the library and the senior center.
Chris Scarpill, spokeswoman for the event and a resident of Northampton since 1986, said the Northampton Days Festival has been around for 13 years. It was something the township supervisors at the time had long sought to do — offer a festival similar to the one offered in Southampton, Scarpill said.
Though it’s now a misnomer, Northampton Days used to be a two-day event, comprising a run and a festival. Due to lack of interest, the former was dropped, leaving just the festival.
However, the Sept. 13 festival offers up quite a bit of entertainment on its own, including a talent show, a parade at noon and a car show.
Ed Ingle has been organizing the car show since the inception of Northampton Days. Ingle said he was approached by the chairman of the festival, who knew that Ingle was involved in other car shows and was a car enthusiast in general.
Ingle, who drives a ’99 Porsche Cabriolet (which he won’t be showing) puts the show together with help from his wife, Kris.
The judged show has 16 classifications, and awards for “People’s Choice,” and “Supervisor’s Choice.”
Though it’s just one aspect of Northampton Days, Ingle said the car show really brings families together.
“I’ll overhear fathers telling their children, ‘This is the kind of car I drove when I was a teenager,’ or ‘I always wanted one of these,’ or ‘My friends had one of these and it brings back memories,’” Ingle said. “You hear a lot of comments like that, and it’s a good family event. The car show is one piece of the family-oriented action.”
Registration for the car show is $20 at the door.
“We’ve tried to do things differently over the years,” Scarpill said. “We’ve added more vendors to bring in more people. When you first start out, you’re taking baby steps. We knew we couldn’t do it along the lines of [the weeklong] Southampton Days, so what we’ve done was add different vendors, we got the rescue squad involved, there’s a shredding event, and we got the police department involved.”
She adds that the parade is larger and now includes the schools and the fire companies, and there is a lot more variety with the food. The festival will also feature the Phillie Phanatic, the Phillies’ ball girls, and the Eagles’ mascot, Swoop. Other events include a dance competition, a blood drive, a helicopter landing, and a bocce challenge between the supervisors and residents of the senior center.
On the Northampton Days Festival committee for five years, Scarpill, a real estate agent, said she wanted to give back to the community.
“A fellow real estate agent of mine was on the committee, so I went to the meetings, and decided that the public relations side would best fit me,” Scarpill said.
Northampton Days is funded through sponsors and vendors. Though the committee usually just brings in enough money to cover its expenses. Scarpill said the festival is not a money-generating event, adding that last year the event lost money.
Scarpill said that prior to Northampton Days, the township did not have any kind of event to bring the community together.
“We usually bring in between 8,000 to 10,000 people,” Scarpill said. “We really have tried to make this a family tradition — that was our goal.”
The Northampton Days Festival will take place Sept. 13 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the corner of Upper Holland and Township roads, Richboro, across the street from the library and the senior center.
