Kutztown Folk Festival

Festival Location: Kuztown, PA, USA

Festival State: Pennsylvanian Festivals

Festival Type(s): Folk Festivals, Family Festivals, Community Festivals

Kutztown Folk Festival Media:

Old-Time Tractors and Shoofly Pie

By: © Bob Brooke 2009

Each year from the last week in June through the Fourth of July, the hills around the little college town of Kutztown, Pennsylvania ring out with the sounds of old-time putt-putt farm engines and the oom-pa-pa of brass bands. The air fills with the oily aroma of funnel cakes and the baked goodness of homemade bread and apple dumplings. It's time for the annual Kutztown Folk Festival and everyone's "a-coming."

For the last 60 years, this festival has attracted hoards of visitors from all over the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S.A. and beyond–so it pays to get their early. They come for the history, the entertainment, the crafts, but mostly for the tasty, albeit expensive, down-home food. Its original focus was to showcase Pennsylvania German traditions and history to those outside of the area. And to some extent, it's still doing that. But now this Festival, like so many others, has become somewhat commercial. Originally, the craftspeople who demonstrated and sold their crafts came from Pennsylvania Dutch country–the area encompassing Berks and Lancaster Counties in eastern Pennsylvania. Today, many of them come from all over the country and aren't even Pennsylvania German.

But commercialism aside, it's a great show with so much to see, do, and eat you'll need the better part of a day. The American Bus Association designated it one of the top 100 events in the country.

The traditions of the Pennsylvania German culture are the main attraction. These aren't the traditions of one group, but several–the Amish, Mennonite, Brethern, and Reformed Lutherans–all of German heritage. Each has contributed in its own way to a culture which has become commonly referred to as "Pennsylvania Dutch," an interpretation of "Pennsylvania Deutsch." History comes alive as speakers give talks on topics ranging from religion and family life to clothing and folk medicine, folk superstitions and holiday traditions. In the Nachbarshaft Haus or Neighborhood House, members of the Grundsow Lodge converse and tell humorous stories in the Pennsylvania Dutch Dialect, then invite you to sit down with them to ask questions. You can also attend presentations and re-enactments to learn about Pennsylvania Dutch folklore and folklife traditions, as well as attend Mennonite services, held within their meeting house on the Festival grounds, to learn more about the Mennonite religion.

Farm life dominates Pennsylvania German culture. Farmers demonstrate sheep shearing, blacksmithing, furniture making, and roof thatching while their womenfolk do the same with wool carding, spinning, and candle making. Others operate antique antique tractors, plows, and threshing equipment used a century ago and still in operating condition, including the Frick Eclipse steam engine tractor, introduced in 1876 and fired by wood.

Reenactments of a simple Mennonite wedding, the tragic 19th-century hanging of Suzanna Cox, and lessons in a one-room school house show what life was like during the 19th century. Plus you can try your luck at dowsing, a common practice back then in the Pennsylvania Dutch region. And don't forget to check out the last of the hex sign painters. You'll see examples of this rare art on many of the barns in the Kutztown area.

But at this Festival, above all else, food is king. The Pennsylvania Germans believe in guten essen or good eating, and they love to share their favorite foods with others. From one end of the festival to the other, you'll discover a seemingly endless supply of ham and chicken dinners, home-made soups, chicken pot pie, corn fritters, funnel cakes, shoofly pie, strawberry shortcake, and apple dumplings–all made and sold by church and community organizations. You can also watch an ox roasting on a spit before enjoying a traditional ox roast platter or sandwich.

Pennsylvania Dutch women prepare meals from generations-old recipes on an authentic, turn-of-the-century wood fired stove and other old-fashioned appliances in the summer kitchen. You can ask questions about these foods, and you may even be able to sample some of them, fresh from the oven. After seeing food being prepared, stop by the traditional family farm four-square garden, where farmwives show how they grow plants for both medicinal use and cooking.

Some persons who introduced foods or recipes to festivalgoers back in the 1950's are still represented today. Viola Miller's booth, for example, is known for originating the funnel cake–a tantalizing delight made by pouring batter into hot oil. And don't forget to sample her warm apple dumplings smothered in creamy homemade French vanilla ice cream.

While booths from churches, firehouses, and community organizations serve food to eat at the Festival, be sure to pick up a loaf of fresh bread from the outdoor oven, homemade apple dumplings, whoopie pies, and five varieties of shoofly pies to take home to enjoy later. And to spread on that fresh bread, try a jar of freshly-made Pennsylvania Dutch apple butter, made from newly picked apples, cinnamon, and other seasonings.

Stop by the farmers' market and butcher shop to browse distinctive take-home Pennsylvania Dutch foods such as hams, smoked sausages, homemade pies, fruit and nut breads, unique relishes such as chow-chow, and old time delicacies such as pickled pig's snout.

In addition to all the good food, 220 nationally-recognized, juried folk artists and traditional American craftsmen demonstrate their skills in diverse crafts including fine furniture, miniatures, I pottery making, clothing, musical instruments, hand-painted art, iron ornaments, weavings, brooms, cut paper art known as scherenschnitte, Pennsylvania German calligraphic writing called fraktur, beeswax candles and more in booths surrounding the demonstration area.

Amish and Mennonite women are well known for their quilts. Some demonstrate their loving hand stitching at quilting bees throughout the run of the Festival. You'll find nearly 2,500 locally hand-made quilts, from crib size to king size, on display and for sale. Now the largest quilt sales event in the country, the long line of visitor waiting to get into the quilt barn attests to their popularity. You can even help create a quilt one patch at a time.

And to add to the fun, you'll find continuous entertainment, music and dancing on six stages. Pennsylvania Dutch fiddling fills the air every day. Time-honored folk, country, and religious melodies reflect traditions that go back in the Pennsylvania German community to the 19th century. The brassy sounds of the Hiedelberg Band and the Sauerkraut Band provide upbeat music both on stage and while strolling throughout the fairgrounds. For a quieter tone, stop by and listen to the beautiful, Mennonite hymns sung by an a capella choir.

As you approach the hoedown stage, you can't help tap your feet to the foot-stomping music of Lester Miller and the Country Folks. For the past 40 years, Miller has gotten his children, grand children and friends on stage for jigging and hoedown dancing. And if you're there on Friday evening, you'll be invited to join in a square dance "free for all."

And while all of the above activities are mainly for adults, you'll find plenty for the little ones. At the Noah's Ark farm petting zoo, kids can see, touch, and feed cows, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, rabbits, and turkeys. Then take a pony ride next door. A mule-drawn carousel called "the flying swing"–the only one of its kind in the country–is another kid's favorite. But the biggest hit with the younger set is The Hex Express, a unique train made of five-gallon oil drums, which takes them on a long ride around the Festival grounds. They can also enjoy themselves–and wear themselves out to their parents' delight–as they walk through the hay maze and climb and tumble on the huge pile of hay. Smaller children love to play in the Pennsylvania Dutch equivalent of a sand box that's filled with corn kernels instead. Children can also make crafts and play Pennsylvania Dutch games.

by Bob Brooke

Kutztown Folk Festival Photos:

Kutztown Folk Festival Dates and Location

The Kutztown Folk Festival runs from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. daily from the last week in June through the fourth of July. Admission for adults is $12, seniors $11. Kids 12 and under are free. You'll find loads of free parking with free shuttle service to and from the fairgrounds. For more information check out the Kutztown Folk Festival web site.