The Big Dill is coming and, well, it’s a big deal, especially for pickle fans.
“The Big Dill, The World’s Largest Pickle Party,” is coming to Stateside Live! at the sports complex in South Philadelphia Nov. 14, 1-9 p.m., just in time for National Pickle Day. It’s also a homecoming. The team behind The Big Dill is from the Philadelphia area and staged its very first soldout pickle event in Philadelphia in 2018.
“Over the past couple of years, pickles went from the side of the plate to the top of pop culture, and Pennsylvania sits at the center of it all,” said Kevin Baxter, co-founder of The Big Dill. “Between Picklesburgh in the western part of the state and The Big Dill in the east, no region anywhere celebrates the pickle like we do. When National Pickle Day lands on a Saturday in Philadelphia, our hometown, the state of Pennsylvania can truly call itself the pickle capital of the world.”
This is certainly not a traditional food festival. It is a pickle party, with unlimited sampling of more than 100 pickle varieties on Pickle Row, more than 50 vendors serving everything from pickle pizza and deep-fried pickle egg rolls to pickle pierogies and pickle milkshakes.
In short, if you love something brined, well this is the place to be.
Tickets and more information are available at https://bigdill.com.
Keep an eye out for the 25-foot pickle jar at the Big Dill, The World’s Largest Pickle Party. (COURTESY OF THE BIG DILL)
The Big Dill, though, is not just about enjoying the crunch.
There will also be a pickle rave with DJ Jay Roy, VIP pickle brunch, pickle beer and margaritas, live music from Shot of Southern and the South Philly String Band, the World Pickle Eating Championship, the Brine Chug Challenge, TikTok’s Pickle Priest blessing pickles, a 25-foot inflatable pickle jar named Big Brine, Jameson Pickle Backs and Evil Genius pickle beer.
There will be an attempt at a world record number of pickle costumes at The Big Dill. Keep an eye out for the 25-foot pickle jar at the Big Dill, The World’s Largest Pickle Party. (COURTESY OF THE BIG DILL)
The centerpiece of the day is the Parade of the Pickles, where The Big Dill will attempt to set the record for the largest gathering of people dressed as pickles.
Participants will gather at Stateside Live! in individually numbered pickle costumes from Imposta Costumes, the official pickle suit sponsor.
The current published record for the largest gathering of people dressed as fruits or vegetables drew 888 people in Japan in 2017.
The first 1,200 ticket buyers will receive a numbered costume with a commemorative patch, plus an official photo marking that they were part of the record. The full count will be documented and independently verified on event day.
“This isn’t a festival where you walk around with a paper plate,” Baxter said. “It’s a party. You can dance at a pickle rave, ride a mechanical pickle, get your pickle blessed by a priest and march in a parade of more than a thousand people dressed as pickles. Philly has always shown up for us, so we saved the biggest day of the year for the city that started it all.”