St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church of Smithtown gets nod for second festival

A Smithtown church won conditional approval to hold a second annual fall festival next year, months after resolving a lengthy legal dispute with Village of the Branch.

Village trustees voted Tuesday to approve an application by St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church to hold its second Fall Family Festival in October 2026. The church held its first festival early this month.

After the board rendered its decision, parishioners in the audience broke into applause.

The approval of a second festival follows a yearlong legal dispute over the church's right to hold the first one.

In March 2024, the church, at 280 E. Main St., Smithtown, applied to hold a family festival later that year with food, rides and games. The Village of the Branch rejected the application, saying its code prohibits carnivals, circuses, mechanical rides and other "amusement-park-type operations" in the historic district.

St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church then sued the village in State Supreme Court in Suffolk County. The lawsuit accused the Village of the Branch of denying the church's right to "free exercise of religion."

The lawsuit was dropped after the village approved the church’s new application in May for a three-day fundraiser with rides, games and food on athletic fields near the church. The original proposal was to run over four days.

In an interview before Tuesday night's meeting, Jerry Reda, a deacon with the church, called the festival earlier this month a “huge success” that drew more than 1,000 people to the church grounds on each of the three days.

“It exceeded all of our expectations, and it was a safe, wonderful family event for the community,” Reda said.

He said the church raised five times its budget at the festival. The festival also brought more attention to the church and its school, Reda said, adding he hopes the event can help boost membership.

At the meeting, Erik Snipas, an attorney representing the church, asked the village to approve the church’s 2026 application.

Christopher Ring, the village’s attorney, said the board should schedule an approval vote for next month. Ring said the board needed more time to review paperwork.

But parishioners and church representatives pushed back at that suggestion.

“We want to try and move forward in a positive manner,” Reda said. “We put forward everything we needed to, and we hope the trustees will vote this evening.”

After hearing several comments, village trustee Roger Botto moved to approve the application pending a review of the documents. The board approved the motion. Village Mayor Mark Delaney abstained, citing legal advice.

After the vote, parishioners and church representatives gathered outside village hall for a short prayer expressing gratitude over the decision.

Rebecca Darmanin, principal of St. Patrick Catholic School, said she was “elated” by the decision.

“We had so many people telling us how safe they felt at the festival,” Darmanin said. She said she hopes the event becomes a long-running staple in the community and that the church and village “can keep working together as one big community — the way it should be.”