Summer comes, and suddenly everyone wants to leave the house to get something to eat. All over the Midwest, the urge exists to eat outdoors, and not just at picnics and barbecues. Food festivals, the small town celebrations of a local edible specialty, crop up from the first warm days of summer through the leafy weeks of fall.
Some festivals embrace larger themes, such as ethnic heritage, harvest time and “tastes” of various cities and towns. Others focus on a “chowder,” a fish fry or the barbecue chicken grilling benefit for the local firehouse or Kiwanis Club.
But the region also has a wealth of festivals with specific foods as the headliners. We found plenty of corn and apple shindigs as well as more obscure feasts celebrating pawpaws (a native American fruit of the cherimoya family) and toast.
“There’s great food and it tends to be home-cooked, not fast food,” recommends Terese Allen, a Madison, Wis., writer and author of “Food Festivals of Wisconsin.” “You’re going to get a sense of community. It’s good, inexpensive fun.”
The small-town spirit not only brings the community together, it gives the locals a chance to brag about their native specialty. Even if it is bologna.
“Bologna was made here for years and years, close to 100 years,” says Diane Kettlewell, coordinator of the Bologna Festival in Yale, Mich. “Fried bologna sandwiches are the big thing. It’s the only meat we allow to be vendored.” No chance of trying to sneak in with a chicken wing? “Can’t do it!,” Kettlewell says.
And how often do you find a festival that’s simply a salute to sauerkraut, as in the one held in Henderson, Minn., in July? Or a banquet of all-you-can-eat turkey . . . um, fritters, like you’ll find at the Byron, Ill., turkey testicle festival? Hmm?
If you’re driving around the Midwest this summer, you might make time to stop in at one of these local events. It is your annual chance to eat some real food and visit a small town you might otherwise overlook. In other words, it’s a chance to see America, the way it should be experienced: while holding an ear of buttered corn.
A FOOD FEST IN YOUR OWN BACK YARD
Aren’t planning a road trip this summer? The region’s biggest food festival, the 20th annual Taste of Chicago, begins June 30 and runs through July 9 in Grant Park.
The event features food from more than 70 Chicago-area restaurants, cooking demonstrations and entertainment. More than 3 million people are expected to attend the food fest. Admission is free, but food coupons are sold in strips of 10 for $6.
For further information, contact the Mayor’s Office of Special Events hot line: 312-744-3370.
Following is a list of many of the food attractions in Illinois and some of the neighboring states Chicagoans are likely to visit this summer. For a comprehensive list, contact state travel and tourism bureaus or visit state Web sites. Call ahead to confirm dates and get admission fees and directions.
ILLINOIS
Strawberry Festival
Long Grove
June 23-25
847-634-0888
15th Annual Bagelfest
Mattoon
July 27-30
217-258-6286
53rd Annual Sweet Corn Festival
Mendota
Aug. 10-13
815-539-6507
Southern Illinois Sweet Corn & Watermelon Fest
Mt. Vernon
Aug. 14-19
800-252-5464
Apple Dumpling Festival
Atwood
Aug. 18-19
217-578-2734
DeKalb Corn Festival
Aug. 25-27
815-748-2676
Xenia Fish Fry
Sept. 2
618-678-2740
Casey Popcorn Festival
Sept. 2-4
217-932-5951
Warren County Prime Beef Festival
Monmouth
Sept. 6-9
309-734-3181
Broom Corn Festival
Sept. 8-10
217-268-4530
Mt. Carmel Ribberfest
Sept. 8-9
618-262-5116
Murphysboro Apple Festival
Sept. 12-17
800-526-1500
St. Anne Pumpkin Festival
Sept. 22-24
815-427-8466
Warren Pumpkin Festival
Sept. 22-24
815-745-3315
Barry Apple Fest
Sept. 28-Oct. 1
217-335-2108
Jersey County Historical Society Apple Festival
Jerseyville
Sept. 30
618-498-4613
Cider Festival
Union
Oct. 1
815-923-2267
Pumpkin Fest
Joliet
Oct. 6-9
815-724-3761
PumpkinFest
Decatur
Oct. 6-8
217-422-7300
Annual Turkey Testicle Festival
Byron
Oct. 14
815-234-9910
Highwood Pumpkin Fest
Oct. 14
847-433-2100
AppleFest
Jacksonville
Oct. 21
217-245-9917
INDIANA
Raspberry Festival
Batesville
July 20-23
800-445-4939
Pierogi Festival
Whiting
July 28-30
219-659-0292
Knox County Watermelon Festival
Vincennes
Aug. 5-6
812-882-6440
VanBuren Popcorn Festival
Aug. 10-12
765-934-4888
Marshall County Blueberry Festival
Plymouth
Sept. 1-4
219-936-5020
Ligonier Marshmallow Festival
Sept. 1-5
812-894-9000
Valparaiso Popcorn Festival
Sept. 9
219-464-8332
Nappanee Apple Festival
Sept. 15-17
219-773-7812
Mitchell Persimmon Festival
Sept. 23-30
800-580-1985
Orange County Pumpkin Festival
French Lick
Sept. 27
812-936-2137
Navy Bean Fall Festival
Rising Sun
Oct. 14
888-776-4786
Feast of the Hunter’s Moon
(Re-creation of an 18th Century gathering of French settlers and Native Americans)
Lafayette
Oct. 14-15
765-476-8402
IOWA
Dubuque Catfish Festival
June 22-25
319-583-8535
Raspberry Festival
Webster City
July 2
515-832-9193
Barbecue Fest
Council Bluffs
July 8
800-238-2946
Corn Day
Waukon
Aug. 3
319-568-4110
Sweet Corn Festival
Estherville
Aug. 5
712-362-3541
West Point Sweet Corn Festival
Aug. 10-13
319-837-6313
MICHIGAN
National Cherry Festival
Traverse City
July 1-8
800-968-3380
Eau Claire Area Cherry Festival
Eau Claire
July 4
616-461-6241
Michigan Sugar Festival
Sebewaing
June 23-25
517-883-9464
Munger Potato Festival
July 27-30
517-893-1222
Strawberry Festival
Chassell
July 7-8
906-482-2388
Auburn Cornfest
July 13-16
517-893-1222
Bologna Festival
Yale
July 28-30
810-387-9253
Fish Sandwich Days Festival
Bayport
Aug. 5-6
517-453-0109
National Blueberry Festival
South Haven
Aug. 11-13
616-637-5252
St. John’s Annual Mint Festival
Aug. 11-13
517-224-7248
Howell Melon Festival
Aug. 18-20
517-545-5687
Wild Blueberry Festival
Paradise
Aug. 18-20
906-492-3219
Linwood Pickle Festival
Aug. 18-20
517-893-1222
Apple Festival
Niles
Sept. 28-Oct. 1
616-683-8870
Apple Festival
Shelby
Sept. 30
231-861-6339
Bangor Apple Festival
Oct. 13-15
616-427-7869
Apple Festival
Charlevoix
Oct. 13-15
231-547-2101
Apple Butter Festival
Lansing
Oct. 21-22
517-483-4224
MINNESOTA
Sauerkraut Days
Henderson
June 24-25
507-248-3234
Catfish Festival
Floodwood
July 7-9
218-476-2751
Corn Capital Days
Olivia
July 26-30
888-265-2676
Turkey Days
Frazee
July 27-30
800-407-2488
Blueberry Festival
Lake George
July 28-30
218-266-3347
Braham Pie Day
Aug. 4
763-689-4229
Crazy Corn Days
Moose Lake
Aug. 5
218-485-4145
Blueberry Festival
Angle Inlet
Aug. 7-8
218-223-8311
Corn Carnival
Cokato
Aug. 7-9
320-286-5505
Ribfest
Mankato
Aug. 11-13
507-389-3000
Polska Kielbasa Days
Ivanhoe
Aug. 11-13
507-694-1648
Catfish Days
East Grand Forks
Aug. 11-13
218-773-7481
Corn on the Cob Fest
Plainview
Aug. 18-20
507-534-2229
Watermelon Day
Vining
Aug. 19
218-769-4168
Buttered Corn Day
Sleepy Eye
Aug. 24
507-794-4731
Potato Days Festival
Barnesville
Aug. 25-26
800-525-4901
Kernel Days
Wells
Aug. 25-27
507-553-6450
Crayfish Hunt and Feed
Detroit Lakes
Aug. 27
888-728-2236
WISCONSIN
Catfish Days
Trempealeau
July 6-9
608-534-6780
Fish Day
Port Washington
July 15
262-284-0900
Iron River Blueberry Festival
July 22-23
715-372-8202
Tater Toot
Almond
July 29-30
715-366-4311
Sturgeon Fest
Jim Falls
Sept. 1-4
715-382-4538
Cider Pressing/Corn Boil
Ontario
Sept. 2
608-337-4775
Chilimania
Edgerton
Sept. 9
608-884-3358
Green County Cheese Days
Monroe
Sept. 15-17
800-307-7208
Cranberry Festival
Warrens
Sept. 22-24
608-378-4200
Apple Festival
Gays Mills
Sept. 23-24
608-735-4810
Apple Harvest Fest
Waukesha
Sept. 23
262-896-8007
Wisconsin Maple Festival
Merrill
Sept. 30
715-536-9474
Sources: State departments of travel and tourism.
