In Pictures: Pierogi Fest 2012
By Chuck Sudo in Food on Jul 30, 2012 7:00PM
Once again thousands of people flocked to 119th Street in Whiting, Ind. to soak in the camp, spectacle, and scores of starch bombs at Pierogi Fest. Where else can you see dancing troupes, pierogi eating and tossing contests, pierogi-designed artwork and notions, a group of sexagenarian men called “the New Melodymakers,” a soda stand marketing its Mountain Dew-style drink by with the description “it’s yellow, like pee?,” and nuns in a dunk tank?
Sure, pierogi are the main draw to Whiting every final weekend in July, but the festival is much more. There's the arts and crafts row near the far end of the festival; the tchotchke street offering t-shirts; carnival prizes and palm readings as soon as you enter the festival at 119th and Indiana; the stage with polka bands and the old couples shuffling to their rhythms in the mid-afternoon sun, apple dumpling and Cajun food stands; the newly opened Bulldog Brewing providing an option from the "seen that, drank that" under the beer tent; and the long line of people waiting patiently for Whiting's own Dan's Pierogi. They rarely get your order right during the festival's peak hours, but the pierogi they do serve you don't leave you complaining. I ordered blueberry pierogi and was served with a sweet cheese and sour cherry that made for a glorious mistake.
I took most of the photos here and added a couple more from the Chicagoist Photos Flickr pool. Seriously, readers; this festival should be on your bucket lists.