PastyFest hits Calumet this weekend
The event celebrating an icon in the Upper Peninsula is finally here.
PastyFest 2014 is taking place this weekend at Agassiz Park in Calumet. The festivities will start at 7:00 tonight with the Main Street Calumet Community Service Awards held at the Calumet Coliseum Ballroom.
The PastyFest parade will take place tomorrow morning at 11:00 and the big pasty bake-off begins at 1:00. Connie Hella, owner of Connie’s Kitchen, says preparations for her entry have already begun.
“We usually start chopping vegetables about two days beforehand,” she said. “We have to obviously make a lot of dough and then pretty much put them all together the day of the event.”
Laura Smyth from Main Street Calumet says although there are many events that take place in the area at this time of the year, there simply is nothing like PastyFest.
“It becomes a little bit goofy but also a real celebration of long-standing traditions. People come and bring their family recipes and compete in the bake-off, and it’s really great fun to see all the different ways in which people get creative,” Smyth said.
The event will also feature live music, horse-drawn tours and games for kids.