Pierogi Fest® in Whiting, Indiana – that quirky, crazy, internationally known festival – is celebrating its 21st year in 2015 (that means it will celebrate its 22nd year in 2016 and celebrated its 14th year in 2008, but who’s counting) by Put a Babushka On It! The festival features more than 75 food vendors making, it one of the largest food festivals in the Midwest (non-fair), with approximately 20 pierogi vendors, and has been named by TripAdvisor as one of the wackiest festivals on the planet! In addition to all kinds of delectable food, the festival also features 100 arts and crafts booths, 25 specialty vendors (also known as Chotchkie or tchotchke, or just stuff people buy) a massive and enlarged beer garden, and music and entertainment for everyone.
“We offer every food imaginable,” noted Karen Anaszewicz, executive director of the Whiting-Robertsdale Chamber of Commerce. “We also feature five performance stages and the most ridiculous and off-the-wall parade in perhaps the nation.” The annual International Pierogi Fest® Parade will be held on Friday, July 24, at 7 p.m. According to Festival and Parade Chairman Tom Dabertin, “It’s so nuts that we can’t find words to describe it!”
The festival offers pierogis that have been deep fried, boiled, fried or baked, and stuffed with everything from cheese to meat – even alligator! Food vendors come from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee and Florida, as well as Indiana, Illinois and the Chicago/Northwest Indiana area.
Pierogi Fest® kicks off Friday, July 24, and runs through Sunday, July 26, and draws more than 275,000 visitors. This nutty, off-the-wall festival has won all sorts of acclaim. In addition to TripAdvisor, Pierogi Fest has been named by Oprah Winfrey as one of her favorite things to do for five years straight; named as The Times of Northwest Indiana’s Best Festival for ten consecutive years; a Blue Ribbon Festival of Summer in 2013 by Yahoo.com; featured on The Food Channel, Travel Channel, television stations throughout the United States, CNN, and television stations in Germany, Slovakia, Poland, China and Australia. It is also rumored that coverage of the festival is very popular with extraterrestrials.
For more information regarding the festival, contact the Whiting-Robertsdale Chamber of Commerce at 219-659-0292, or Tom Dabertin, chairman, at 219 218-2735. Smoke signals are also acceptable as long as you do not use coal.
