Festival Of Pasty Feasting Is Saturday

The pasty is an iconic staple in the Upper Peninsula, synonymous with its mining heritage and those who brought it here.  Folks will come from all over this weekend to celebrate its long time part of the Copper Country at the 15th Annual Pastyfest.

“Pasties originated in Cornwall, England and as you know, we have major mining history here in Calumet. Lots of Cornish miners came and with them came the pasty. If you explore on the internet, you’ll find out that anywhere that Cornish miners went, they have pasties. If you look on the internet, you’ll see Mexico actually has a very large Pastyfest event. And you’ll find the same, I’ve had contacts from people in Missoula, Montana, and northern Minnesota as well, where we also find mining communities Cornish miners went and they brought the pasty and that history is there, and it is very much here in Calumet,” said Main Street Calumet Executive Director Leah Polzien.

In previous years, the event has taken place earlier in the summer, but was moved to August to avoid scheduling conflicts with other festivities in the area. This year’s event will be held from 12:00 to 6:00pm this Saturday in Downtown Calumet.

“We have a whole slate of activities for the community to come and enjoy. We’re going to have, of course, pasties, pasties, pasties. We have five vendors on deck for you, we have a bake off for you to participate in. You come in and get one small 2 oz pasty from each vendor and you get to pick which one is the best. So it’s $5 a vote, but you get to say who has the best pasty in the Copper Country,” said Polzien.

Participants in the bake off include: Connie’s Kitchen, Suomi Restaurant, Mohawk Superette, Pasty Central and Lindell’s.  Spectators will also vote to end the age old controversy of weather ketchup or gravy belongs on a pasty.

Other activities include a car show, live music all day, craft vendors, kid’s activities including lawn games and a story teller, a raptor presentation from the Chocolay Raptor Center, and a Parade at 2:00 pm.  Entries for the parade are still being accepted.

“You can still register at www.mainstreetcalumet.com and go o the Pastyfest tab. Our registration is there and available. We’re happy to have lots of people in the Pasty Parade, and it’s a great opportunity to get your business in front of a lot of people, so come on down,” said Polzien.