Kielbasa Festival in Plymouth, Pennsylvania Offers Great Food

Kielbasa, also known as Kovbasa, Kubasa, and Kolbasa, is a type of Eastern European sausage and the star of Plymouth's Kielbasa Festival. Almost every European country from Poland to Slovakia has their own type of Kielbasa. I grew up in a German family so have been eating kielbasa since I was a small child. I was happy to hear about the Kielbasa Festival in Plymouth, PA that honors the delicious sausage the weekend of August 27- 29th.

Often as a child when we had kielbasa for dinner it would be boiled with cabbage and carrots. This would be the entire meal although sometimes it was served with bread. At the Kielbasa Festival in Plymouth I was delighted to find multiple variations and recipes for new ways to enjoy one of my favorite sausages.

The Festival took place on Main Street in Plymouth, PA which is just outside of Kingston. Driving in to the festival, it is best to roll down your windows to get the delightful scents of food in the air. After parking, we walked past multiple vendors selling t-shirts, hawking games for kids and food stands looking for the right place to satiate our appetite.

We found loads of street vendors selling food but picked the one with a colorful sign that had 3 types of sausage, fresh butter chips, gyros and more. I purchased a kielbasa sandwich with onions and peppers while my other half purchased two Italian sausage sandwiches with no onions. It cost $20 for 3 sandwiches and although expensive we still enjoyed them.

We stopped at a few other food vendors at the Kielbasa Festival and purchased perogies sauteed in butter and onions, kielbasa on a stick, and an interesting food called little piggies. Little Piggies actually have no kielbasa in them. They are a mixture of hamburger meat, spices, and onions that is rolled up in cabbage leaves then cooked with a light red sauce. We both tasted the item and neither of us could decide whether we liked it or not. The flavor was interesting. My other half liked the filling but realized he could not eat it because of the onions (he is allergic) so spit most of it out. He didn't care for the cabbage but liked the sauce. I, on the other hand, liked the cabbage but thought there was way too much filling and didn't care much for the red sauce.

The kielbasa was excellent though! There were other food treats to be had at the festival including ice cream, hot apple dumplings, and even chocolate bacon. I wasn't brave enough to try the bacon this year but maybe I'll get the kids to try it with me next year.

If you are in Plymouth, Pennsylvania in August definitely check out the Kielbasa Festival to satiate your hunger.