About This Festival

Pierogi Fest® is an annual cultural and food festival held in downtown Whiting, Indiana, celebrating Eastern European heritage, particularly Polish culture, with a focus on pierogi, the traditional dumpling. The festival runs over a weekend from July 25 to 27, 2025, and attracts over 300,000 visitors. It features numerous food vendors offering a diverse variety of pierogi flavors, from classic potato and cheese to more unusual options like alligator and Philly cheesecake. The festival atmosphere is quirky and fun, with events including a wacky polka parade, a pierogi toss, live music performances across multiple stages, and costumed characters embodying ethnic traditions, like women dressed as grandmothers ("buscias") and a lawnmower brigade with humorous attire[1][2][3][4].

The event takes place in downtown Whiting along 119th Street, a friendly city on Lake Michigan just 30 minutes from Chicago. It is handicapped accessible and organized by the Whiting-Robertsdale Chamber of Commerce, which established the festival to honor and retain the area's ethnic heritage and family customs, using the pierogi as a symbolic and unifying culinary icon[1][2].

Typical activities and highlights at Pierogi Fest include:

  • Food sampling from dozens of vendors selling traditional and creative pierogi varieties
  • The Wacky Polka Parade showcasing humorous and traditional costumes and floats
  • The Pierogi Toss, a fun competition involving throwing pierogi
  • Live music and entertainment on multiple stages throughout the festival grounds, featuring acts that appeal to diverse audiences
  • Opportunities to meet and take photos with life-size walking pierogi characters and other themed entertainers
  • Vendor areas selling cultural tchotchkes (souvenirs) and crafts[2][3][5].

A rough schedule for the festival is:

  • Friday and Saturday: 11 AM to 11 PM with continuous live music and food vendor service
  • Sunday: 11 AM to 5 PM, winding down the festivities with ongoing entertainment and food[2].

The festival was founded by Marty Dybel, Tom Dabertin, and Darlene Beerling, who wanted to create a community celebration that honored their Eastern European immigrant ancestors while engaging the wider public with humor and fun. The founders decided to focus on the pierogi as a beloved cultural symbol that many families shared[1].

In 2025, a marquee event includes a free concert by Five For Fighting (John Ondrasik), adding to the festival's energetic vibe[5].

The surrounding area is a small, friendly city near the lake, with a welcoming community vibe focused on ethnic pride mingled with playful self-mockery, making Pierogi Fest a distinctive regional highlight and a unique cultural-food experience in the Midwest[1][2][4][6].