Be ready to “Jedz!” “Mangia, mangia!” “Ess ess!” and “Salute!” at the many food and drink festivals this summer around the region. Some come with a side serving of patriotism, music and even pro wrestling.
Luzerne County
The Edwardsville Pierogi Festival is Friday and Saturday. Mr. Pierogi and Mrs. Butter are getting their red, white and blue accessories ready, vendors are preparing for an America250 decorating contest and patriotic pierogi shirts are being stacked for sale.
Pierogies are as American as hot dogs and apple pie, said Jackie Moran, president of the Edwardsville Hometown Committee. The Eastern European immigrants who helped build the country brought their recipes through Ellis Island with them, she said.
“They carried those traditions on and it’s been a part of our heritage and a part of our American experience,” she said.
The festival opens at noon on Friday, punctuated by fireworks at dusk before closing at 10 p.m.
On Saturday, the festival is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The parade is at 11 a.m. and marchers have been asked to include some red, white and blue. The parade starts at Jackson Street and leads to the festival grounds in Hopkins Park on High Street.
The pierogi cook-off is at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Mrs. Fritz’s Homemade of Hanover Township won the professional division last year and returns to defend the title.
The festival is more than pierogies. There are rides, dozens of vendors of all kinds and music.
Elsewhere in Luzerne County, preparations are underway for the Dallas Rotary Wine & Brew Fest on June 27 at the Luzerne County Fairgrounds, the Swoyersville Wing Fling on July 25-26, the Plymouth Kielbasa Festival on Aug. 7-8 and the Pittston Tomato Festival on Aug. 20-23.
Wine and beer events usually have admission fees, with a nominal fee for people identified as designated drivers.
Trinity Miller, of Pittston, dresses as a pizza slice for the Pittston Tomato Festival 5K Walk on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
A porketta sandwich is assembled by a UNICO Scranton worker at La Festa Italiana in Scranton on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Roy Propes, of Lake Ariel, grills two kielbasa rings at a prevoppis the stand operated by Park Market, Nanticoke, at a previous Plymouth Kielbasa Festival. (THE CITIZENS’ VOICE FILE)
Attendees and vendors fill Main St. in Plymouth during the Kielbasa Festival on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Chris Gallagher of Carmella’s packs an order of sweets during the Plymouth Kielbasa Festival on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Thousands of people walk around Courthouse Square at La Festa Italiana in Scranton on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The Waverly Wine Fest is returning. CHRISTOPHER DOLAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Caleiv Jean will perform at the Jewish Food Festival (COURTESY OF CALEIV JEAN)
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Trinity Miller, of Pittston, dresses as a pizza slice for the Pittston Tomato Festival 5K Walk on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
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Schuylkill County
In Pottsville, the 11th annual Schuylkill County Brew Fest is on Saturday, July 25, from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Yuengling, the beer that put Pottsville on the map, will be available but take a back seat.
“You get to try a variety of different breweries that you probably wouldn’t necessarily get to go to, because they’re from all over the state,” said organizer Tyler Budwash, co-owner of Pilger Ruh Brewing and owner and operator of Puff’s Promotions “There’s a homebrew competition; you have a ton of great food available. And then there’s live professional wrestling and live music, so it’s a little bit of a cosmic gumbo of everything involved.”
Budwash will be one of the wrestlers in matches he described as “predetermined, not fake.”
Tickets are on sale now and sales will be capped at around 1,000. Advance tickets are sold at http://bigtickets.com/events/cousindaveent, with a VIP option for early entry. It is an over-21 event, but not all beer and wine festivals are. It’s worth checking in advance.
Switch to wine on Sept. 6, with the 17th Schuylkill County Wine Festival in Hegins Twp., with an America250 theme for its decorating contest.
Lackawanna County
The Jewish Food Festival is in Nay Aug Park, Scranton, from June 28-July 1. The food is kosher and the slogan is “food that survived for thousands of years for a reason.” The menu will include knish, brisket, babka, shawarma, schnitzel, ribs, pastrami, falafel and stuffed cabbage.
The Waverly Wine Fest is Saturday, Aug. 8, on the lawn of the Waverly Community House. It will have an America250 flair with music by the Doug Smith Dixieland Band. It is a 21-plus event.
The 50th La Festa Italiana will surround Courthouse Square in Scranton on Labor Day weekend, Sept. 4-7. The Scranton Chapter of UNICO National makes the festival’s signature porketta sandwich. The locally procured pork loin is wrapped around a seasoning mix and served with roasting juices on a National Bakery hard roll. That’s it.
“You wouldn’t put eyelashes on the Mona Lisa, you’re not going to put garnishes on our porketta sandwiches,” UNICO volunteer Mike Linko said last year.