Why does the Farina Foundation car cruise never park in the same lot twice? If you've lived in McCandless long enough to notice, you've probably wondered. As TribLive reported, the car show moved from a shopping center lot to a school parking lot half a mile from the rest of the festival, then to a spot connected by sidewalk to Town Hall. In 2026, the change was about time, not parking: the car cruise was scheduled for its own night, Friday, September 18, ahead of Saturday's main event. The reason for that shift becomes clear in the numbers: it was the 25th annual Community Day, coinciding with the town's 175th anniversary. That's not a coincidence. It's arithmetic that's been running quietly since 2001.
A Car Show That Keeps Changing Addresses
For years, the Frank J. Farina Jr. Memorial Car Cruise filled the Ashton Commons lot on Cooper Drive, ground once occupied by the Trader Horn store. Then, for five years running, the cruise moved out to the North Allegheny Intermediate School parking lot on Cumberland Road, a location organizers themselves described as away from the rest of the celebration. Car cruise regulars had to make a choice: stay with the cars or walk over to the festival at Town Hall.
In 2024, the town brought the cruise back to its original ground, returning it to Ashton Commons on Cooper Drive, close enough to Town Hall that a sidewalk along McCandless Drive connected the two. Parks and recreation director Abby Lucostic called it a way to make the day feel more cohesive after five years of the cruise sitting apart from everything else. It worked, geographically. But squeezing a car show, a parade, live music, and fireworks into one Saturday afternoon and evening was always going to be tight, no matter how close the parking lots sat to each other.
A Schedule Change, Not a Location Change
In 2026, the Farina Foundation's car show was scheduled for a separate evening: Friday, September 18, ahead of Saturday's main event. It was a small scheduling change with a bigger implication: this year's schedule gave the car cruise its own evening.
That kind of expansion doesn't happen to a festival that's shrinking. It happens to one that's outgrown its own footprint.
Twenty-Five Years, Right on Schedule
Here's the detail that ties it together. McCandless was chartered in 1851, originally organized under the name Taylor Township before being incorporated as a second-class township and renamed for U.S. District Judge Wilson McCandless in 1857. Community Day itself didn't start until 2001, the same year the town marked its 150th anniversary. According to the same TribLive report, Lucostic described Community Day as a celebration of community since 2001.
Run the math forward. Twenty-five years after a tradition that began as a 150th-anniversary event lands you exactly on a 175th anniversary. The 25th annual Community Day isn't just an arbitrary number that happens to coincide with a round anniversary. It's the same 25-year clock that's been ticking since the town first decided to throw itself a party for turning 150.
Whether the overlap was planned to the year or simply worked out that way, the town is treating it as more than a coincidence. The McCandless175 Committee has spent the better part of a year building programming specifically around it, and that weekend was where the planning became visible.
What Else Is Different This Year
A few markers set this Community Day apart from the 24 before it:
- Allusion Brewery has produced a commemorative McCandless175 Brew, poured at the event as a one-time nod to the anniversary rather than a permanent addition to the lineup.
- The Heritage and Cultural Center has been running a monthly lecture series through 2026 focused on local history, with a session that was scheduled for September 18, covering the town's earliest years as a farming community.
- The car cruise's move to its own night, discussed above, made it a separate event from Saturday's program.
None of these are large changes on their own. Together, they read like a town deciding that a milestone year deserves more than a single afternoon.
Community Day's Event Schedule
The main event was scheduled for Devlin Park, adjacent to Town Hall at 9955 Grubbs Road, on Saturday, September 19. Setup was scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., booths were scheduled to open to the public at 1 p.m., the parade was scheduled to step off at 3 p.m., and the grounds were scheduled to stay open with booths running until 9 p.m. Fireworks were scheduled for around 8:15 p.m.
Event information listed parking at Devlin Park as limited, with the lot closing to incoming cars at 12:30 p.m. once booths were set up, for the safety of everyone on foot. A shuttle was scheduled to run from the McCandless Park and Ride for later arrivals. Cars could return to the lot only after the fireworks ended.
For those with an elementary or middle schooler in a McCandless school, September 19 was the last day to enter the McCandless Adventure raffle. Every resident got one free ticket for a chance to win a ride to school in a dump truck, fire truck, ambulance, or police car, and Community Day was one of the last places to grab one before entries closed.
Why the Timing Matters More Than the Lineup
Plenty of towns run an annual festival. Fewer can point to the exact year their tradition started and show that it lines up, almost to the year, with the milestone it was created to mark. McCandless can. The 150th anniversary gave the town Community Day. The 175th anniversary gave it a second night, a commemorative brew, and a car show scheduled as a separate event.
If you've watched the car cruise wander from lot to lot over the years without quite knowing why, now you do. It wasn't indecision. It was a town slowly working out how much space a 25-year tradition actually needs, and this is the year it got the answer.
For residents who've been here through several of these Community Days, or who are curious about the town's longer arc from a 1,482-person township in 1857 to the neighborhood it is today, the Heritage and Cultural Center's history timeline is worth a look before or after the festivities.
If you're weighing a move within McCandless, sizing up a bigger home in the same school district, or curious what a milestone year like this one means for property values nearby, Zita Billmann can walk you through what's happening on your specific street. Request a free home valuation to start the conversation.