Siblings Ryen, right, and Locke Fletcher enjoy a building session during the 2019 Mingle on Main Street in Saxonburg. The event is returning after being cancelled last year.

Mingle on Main, the popular food, music and vendor event in Saxonburg, will make its triumphant return on Thursday after being shut down last year by the coronavirus pandemic.

Meghan Pohl, volunteer coordinator of the event since its inception in 2015, said Mingle on Main will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month through September on Main Street in Saxonburg, from Pittsburgh Street to Rebecca Street.

Borough leaders will shut down Main Street as thousands gather to enjoy not only the food, tunes and craft booths, but the camaraderie of the summertime event.

“It's a huge benefit for Main Street businesses,” said Mary Papik, Saxonburg borough manager. “It brings people into town who may not normally come in.”

She said Mingle on Main is also an asset to the borough's citizens, who enjoy a fun night outdoors once a month in the summer.

“And we appreciate the businesses working together to make it happen,” Papik said.

Pohl said some precautions are being taken this year because of the pandemic, including spacing the food trucks farther apart to avoid multiple lines of people forming close together.

She said the capacity allowed at the event is slightly decreased, but still more than enough to support the 42 to 45 vendors who have signed up to attend.

“It's going to be beautiful on Thursday, so I suppose there are going to be a lot of people,” she said. “People were upset we didn't have it last year, but we couldn't.”

Pohl said new artisan vendors will set up shop at Thursday's Mingle on Main. New food and beverage vendors include the Sprankle's Neighborhood Markets sushi chef, two local breweries and a hibachi food truck.

“It's like a mini food and arts festival every third Thursday in the summer,” she said.

Pohl said the first Mingle on Main in 2015 had five or six vendors. She feels the venue has grown in popularity because of its casual, neighborhood feel.

“It's really like a big backyard picnic, but out on the street,” she said.

Pamela Howryla, who operates Barlow Bakes cookie booth with her husband, John, will offer her soft and chewy confections at Mingle on Main for the third year.

“It's almost like everyone in Saxonburg comes out and you see the people in the street, and they are all just catching up like old friends,” Howryla said. “It's like a big family reunion.”

She said she bakes eight to nine batches of cookies for each Mingle on Main, with four dozen cookies comprising one batch.

The Howrylas look forward to selling their cookies once again at Mingle on Main, especially after a tough year of COVID-19 restrictions.

“Meghan does a fantastic job pulling it all together,” she said. “We were so happy when she emailed us to let us know it was going to be on.”