The Pierogi Festival family is wacky and wonderful and held this year from July 24th – July 26th, 2026 in downtown Whiting, Indiana. You’ll find a life-size Polish pastry or Mr. Pierogi himself and a cast of characters that has grown over the years. Where else can you see grown women dressed up like our grandmothers (bushas, as they say) in housecoats and babushkas? Or the lawnmower brigade strut through town with sandals and socks on like our dads did? You’ll also see life-size polish pastries and goodies walking and talking – waiting to take a picture with you.
Pierogi festival has been called one of the wackiest festivals on the planet by TripAdvisor, has been the subject of a rare front page story in the Wall Street Journal (2015); named by Oprah Winfrey for five years straight as one of her favorite things to do in the summer; named as one of the 20 best food festivals in North America by Saveur Magazine; for 11 consecutive years the Times of Northwest Indiana’s Best Festival; a Blue Ribbon Festival of Summer in 2013 by Yahoo.com; featured on The Food Channel, Travel Channel, television stations throughout the United States, including the CBS television network, CNN, and stations in Germany, Slovakia, Poland, China and Australia. It is also a perennial favorite of extraterrestrials.
Drawing almost 300,000 visitors each year, Pierogi Fest™ is the pride of Whiting, IN. It welcomes all to celebrate our heritage while poking a little fun at the same time. There shuttle busses from nine locations that are running throughout the day. The wacky parade is Friday night. The eating contests are Sunday Afternoon. There is Continuous live music on 3 music stages, including the beer garden.
Some of the Highlights in include the Mr. Pierogi Songfest, the Buscia Cooking Show, Pierogi Eating Contest, Pierogi Toss, the International Dancers, polka stage with all day polka dancing, polka- hontes dance contest, and much more.
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Susie Young Baxter, CEO, has published PanoramaNOW Magazine for 31 years. Her hobbies are Camping, Boating, Hiking, Nature, Gardening and Outdoor Activities. She is an Artist, Graphic Designer, an Avid Seamstress, Dabbles in Homemade Crafts and Landscaping. Since her Father was a Health Teacher, she also likes homeopathic Health Solutions. Since blogging started over 10 years ago, PanoramaNow has been added to Newsbreak – a national news affiliate.
