PIEROGI FEST® | july 26, 27, 28, 2024
The Whiting Pierogi Fest® is presented annually by the Whiting-Robertsdale Chamber of Commerce. Drawing over 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 ourselves at the same time. Where else can you see grown women dressed up like our grandmothers (buscias, as we say) in housecoats and babushkas? Or the lawnmower brigade strutting 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 Fest® began when Marty Dybel, Tom Dabertin and Darlene Beerling sat down one afternoon to discuss Marty’s idea to creating a festival that celebrated Whiting-Robertsdale’s ethnic heritage, including family memories, customs and food. It was decided it would be a real honor to their ancestors to celebrate and retain part of that special heritage. All they needed was a symbol to pin it on. That symbol was the innocent and darling little Eastern European dumpling: the pierogi (or pirohi, depending on your grandma). Some people still trill the “r” when they say it, just like buscia and jaja did.
Missed out on Pierogi Fest® this year? We’ve got all your favorite tchotchkes here for you!
WICKEDLY WHITING | OCTOBER 13 & 14, 2023
Wickedly Whiting is the region's only all Halloween Festival!
On an eerie October night,
ahead on 119th street waited a fright.
People gather from everywhere,
hoping to get a Halloween scare.
But little did they know,
the horrors that would bestow.
Witches and ghouls and freaks,
listen closely to hear the shrieks.
With drinks and food and thrills,
a time so good it kills.
A Halloween street fest,
that some might say is the best.
If you’re in the mood for a scare,
join us on October 13th and 14th if you dare...
Scare addicts can shop the Market of the Living Dead for all types of Halloween, sci-fi & horror items. This is the only event of its kind in the Region, celebrating everything Halloween! It’s about to get wicked in Whiting!