the 2007 pickle festival

The annual New York City International Pickle Day Festival took place in the heart of NYC's pickle district, the lower east side in Manhattan. An entire city block was turned over the event, which was flooded with people, vats of pickles and free samples galore.

Vendor after vendor were set up under tidy white tents, giving the scene a carnival like feeling. Almost every vendor was giving away free samples, many of which weren't the usual green pickle. I tried everything up for grabs, including pickled grapes, pickled turnip, dried ginger, pickled hot peppers and kimchi. There were plenty of the normal American style pickles too, from hot and spicy to mildly sweet.

In the spirit of pickledom, people were sporting t-shirts depicting smiling green pickles, and one vendor was giving away free pickle pins. (Of course I had to take one ... and yup, I still wear it.) Bulletin boards were set up on the sidewalks and posted with information on how to make pickles, what vinegars to use, and foods good for pickling. I tried reading one page of information but got bored after about a minute, so I have no idea how to make pickles. Oh well.

There was live music as well, although what I heard was pretty lame. I'm not sure what pickles and electric guitar have to do with each other, but I guess somebody was trying to add a little pizzazz to the festival.

Although packed to the gills with people, the over all atmosphere was fun, enlightening and pickle friendly. Plenty of small children were running about, and I saw many grandmas and grandpas sporting half gnawed on pickles in their hands.

If interested, the pickle website is still up online, although I'm not sure how much longer it will stay posted. Here's the site, which gives a complete run-down of the vendors present, presentations given, and more: PICKLE FESTIVAL WEBSITE.