SWOYERSVILLE — The organizers of the 4th annual Swoyersville Chicken Wing Fling have set an ambitious goal to sell 70,000 wings over two days this weekend.
Last year, the festival vendors sold about 50,000 wings.
Organizers have a new attraction this year they hope will bring in more people and make them hungrier — a beer garden serving Susquehanna Brewing Company products from the Jenkins Twp. brewery.
“What goes better with wings? A nice cold beer, right?” said Swoyersville Mayor Jeff Lewis, one of the festival’s founding members and creator of the NEPA Chicken Wing Bulletin page on Facebook.
A map of the layout of the 4th annual Swoyersville Chicken Wing Fling with participating vendors. (Courtesy of the Swoyersville Chicken Wing Fling)
The festival runs 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Roosevelt Street Park at 250 Tripp St. in Swoyersville.
This year’s event will feature a record 12 wing vendors, plus various other food vendors.
Wing vendors include: Babci’s Kitchen, Backwoods Bar and Kitchen, Booyah Burgers and Bites, Finn’s Cafe 99, Haggerty’s Tavern, Murphy’s Pub, Nat’s Spooky Spoon, Purple Pepper Farmstand & BBQ, R Bar and Grill, Sasquatch Inn, Uncle Bucks BBQ, and Yosemite Saloon.
An order of wings from Murphy’s Pub in Swoyersville. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Haggerty’s Tavern from Scranton is the first Lackawanna County wing vendor to ever participate in the festival, which includes a judged wing-tasting contest. The restaurant and pub once came in second place in March’s “King of Wings” contest following the NEPA Wing Madness between 32 establishments each in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.
Murphy Pub of Swoyersville was crowned the “King of Wings” after weeks of voting by area residents and is now defending its own turf.
“They currently have the bragging rights,” Lewis said.
Matty Centak, left, and Jeff Lewis, right, present Eric Murphy of Murphy’s Pub in Swoyersville with the “King of Wings” championship felt following the Wyoming Valley Wing Madness contest in March. (COURTESY OF THE SWOYERSVILL CHICKEN WING FLING)
Haggerty’s and Murphy’s intend to continue the friendly competition that has since emerged. The owners and staffs of both have become regulars at each others’ establishments.
“We’re friends now. We just didn’t know each other before this,” said Haggerty’s owner Tony Konasavage.
Konasavage downplayed expectations over the weekend since they don’t normally sign up for festivals.
“We’re not professionals at this,” Konasavage said. “They asked us to come down since we won the Lackawanna County competition. We feel like we should go down there to support the people who support us.”
All the proceeds from the event go to the Swoyersville Parks and Recreation Board.
Matty Centak, a Wing Fling board member who organized the March Madness-like voting bracket competition months ago, said he’s hoping for a record turnout to help raise money for the board and for the vendors to make extra income.
“Last year we went through 50,000 wings. Hopefully we got through 70,000 this year,” Centak said.
Some vendors are getting creative. Booyah Burgers and Bites of Wyoming has been advertising cookies and creme wings, while R Bar and Grill is promoting its bold Cajun, smoky bacon, fresh garlic and creamy blue cheese wings with a kick of ghost pepper heat.
The mayor and Centak credited the festival committee with working tirelessly through the year to attract vendors and sponsors.
One of the committee members Angeli Mahovich said this year’s event is expected to be the biggest ever, which will be a win-win for all involved.
“We are a little nervous because it’s getting so big. But the bigger we get, the more money we could raise,” Mahovich said. “I believe we are on track to become one of the best festivals in the area.”
Swoyersville Chicken Wing Fling co-founder Angeli Nause Mahovich passes out samples at the judges’ table during the third annual event at Roosevelt Park on Saturday, July 26, 2025. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
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