The Carbondalien Festival honors a UFO sighting in Carbondale all the way back in 1974.
CARBONDALE, Pa. — On Saturday, hundreds went to the Carbondalien Festival in Lackawanna County, which helped folks lean into the things that make us weird.
Kristina Zenga, from Easton, spoke on some of the origins behind the Carbondalien Festival.
“I know everyone’s really appreciative to have something weird and out of this world come to Carbondale, with what happened back in 1974.”
What happened back in 1974 was a reported UFO sighting in the city. Native Carbondaliens launched the festival last year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the sighting.
Rachel Levine, from New York, said, “We saw it on Instagram and I said, ‘This looks weird, what is it? You mean to tell me there’s a reenactment and the whole town doing an alien festival?’ We’re a big fan of street fairs, so this one sounded wonderful, and ridiculous in the best way possible.”
Vendors filled the city’s downtown for the second installment of the celebration.
“I think it’s really awesome. I like to see all the costumes and everyone out. It’s fun,” said Ben Hunter, from Scranton.
And it draws crowds from galaxies far, far away.
“It’s a unique event, there are so many different people, so many different vendors. Happy to see all of the people out here on a nice day in November. It’s just a great time,” said Mark Watson, from East Stroudsburg.
It’s safe to say the festival brings out the believers.
“Honestly, I’ve always felt like I’ve kind of had a little alien DNA in me, so I’m just here to be with my people. As soon as we saw this on Facebook, I sent it to her. I was like, well, I feel like this is our home. So we just decided to come on out and enjoy that, yeah,” said Easton residents Jenna Schwier & Mikaela Wray.
It’s also safe to say that, unlike the UFO, this festival is going to stick around.