Posen Potato Festival
Encyclopedia
Food festival
A food festival is a festival, usually held annually, that uses food, often produce, as its central theme. "These festivals have always been a means of uniting communities through celebrations of harvests and giving thanks for a plentiful growing season...
held annually in Posen
Posen, Michigan
Posen is a village in Presque Isle County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 292. The village is located within Posen Township....
, a village in Presque Isle County of the U.S. state of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. The Posen Potato Festival has been an annual event for over 50 years. Posen has a strong Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
background, so the Posen Potato Festival not only features potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
as its central theme, like most other food festivals, but also concentrates of authentic Polish traditions, including traditional dresses, polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
dancing, crafts, and so on.
The Posen Potato Festival is held every year during the first weekend after the Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
, Friday through Sunday. The weekend is filled with parades and carnivals, family fun, live entertainment, and food. The Posen Potato Festival also features a potato cooking contest. Posen's most famous potato cook is Beatrice Richard, who entered the contest 46 times.
Michigan has a long tradition of potato production due to its cool and moist climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
and deep and sandy soils, and with Poland accounting for about 15% of the world's crop (the second place in the world), Posen has become a natural location for celebrating potatoes. Michigan is the leading producer of summer potatoes and potatoes for chip processing in the USA.
Michigan is the nation's leading producer of summer or "new" potatoes (with red skins) and potatoes for chip processing. Harvest begins in July and ends in October. Montcalm and Bay counties are major Michigan producers of potatoes.
See also
- Posen, MichiganPosen, MichiganPosen is a village in Presque Isle County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 292. The village is located within Posen Township....
- Food festivalFood festivalA food festival is a festival, usually held annually, that uses food, often produce, as its central theme. "These festivals have always been a means of uniting communities through celebrations of harvests and giving thanks for a plentiful growing season...
- Castroville Artichoke FestivalCastroville Artichoke FestivalCastroville Artichoke Festival is a food festival held annually in Castroville, a town in Monterey County of the US State of California. The city itself is called the "Artichoke Center of the World". Castroville Artichoke Festival 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of this celebration.Since 1920s,...
- Greek Food Festival of DallasGreek Food Festival of DallasThe Greek Food Festival of Dallas is a food festival held annually in Dallas, Texas , featuring tradiational Greek cuisine and Greek culture....