Festivals: Heritage and Regional Celebrations

Food plays a starring role in the enormous number of ethnic festivals held throughout the United States. Established to celebrate heritage and preserve ethnic identity, traditions, and customs, these festivals commonly feature foods and recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation. In Staunton, Virginia, the annual African American Heritage Festival celebrates the heritage of the Shenandoah Valley. African American cuisine is represented by fried plantains, homemade biscuits, and chitterlings, small pieces of hog intestine that are coated and deep-fried. Also popular is Brunswick stew, which is said to have originated at an 1828 political rally in Brunswick County, Virginia. Bismarck, North Dakota, hosts the United Tribes International Powwow, where Native American culture is celebrated with song and dance competitions. An abundance of Native American foods is served, including Chippewa bannock bread, tripe and corn soups, fry bread, and beef and buffalo jerky. At the Hungarian Festival in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Hungarian heritage is honored, and an eight-block stretch of food vendors featuring traditional Hungarian dishes draws visitors by the thousands. Among the dozens of offerings are kolbasz sausage, chicken paprika, palacsinta (crepes filled with cottage cheese or jelly), kifli (small pastries filled with apricots, prunes, or nuts), strudel, and nut or poppy seed rolls called kalac. Asian Americans celebrate their cultures at the Asian Moon Festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Against a backdrop of sporting events, music, and artwork, Asian cuisine is served. Well-known items such as Japanese sushi and Thai spring rolls are presented along with more unfamiliar dishes, such as Philippine pork and chicken adobo and Vietnamese bun thit nuong, a dish made from grilled pork, rice, noodles, vegetables, and fish sauce.