By LEAH WEATHERSBY

St. Benedict School's annual Great Wallingford Wurst Festival isn't going anywhere, according to Principal Fred McCarthy.

McCarthy was responding to rumors that the popular September festival might be in danger because of the workload it places on the school's parent volunteers.

"It's a big undertaking for a small school," McCarthy said.

20,000 people attend the weekend-long event which takes place on St. Benedict's Wallingford campus and includes carnival rides, a beer garden, craft and food vendors and live music.

"People certainly express concerns about how much time and energy it takes ... but they see its value," said McCarthy. "There's no talk at the parish level of not doing it."

That being said, both he and the festival's chairman, John Mize, say they're hoping that the Wallingford community will get more involved in organizing and running the event. One idea, McCarthy said, would be to have local restaurants operate food booths at the gathering.

"Since this has become a community festival we would welcome more community involvement in it," McCarthy said. He added that at some point the festival could be used to raise money for other groups, especially if having more volunteers involved led to more funds coming in.

The Wurst Festival started in 1981 as a way to get money for teachers' raises. McCarthy said that currently St. Benedict's parents raise 10 percent of the school's budget between their two major events: an auction and the Wurst Festival. Last year the festival brought in about $55,000, $5000 of which was donated to relief efforts for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The 21st Annual Great Wallingford Wurst Festival will take place this year on Sept. 20-22 at St. Benedict's School (4811 Wallingford Ave. N.) For details, call the school at 633-0331.