Leek lovers will once again be treated to a variety of pungent dishes and soups during the 16th annual Stinkfest Saturday in Bradford.
The event, sponsored by the East Bradford Business Association, will be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on East Main Street in Bradford.
Kim Glenn, East Bradford Business Association president, said that in addition to an assortment of food vendors there will be live music, craft booths, Kiddyland and a leek dip contest.
As in years past, East Main will be blocked off to traffic between Kendall and Penn avenues to make room for the festivities. In addition, festival organizers ask that visitors not bring dogs to the event.
Glenn said there are approximately 20 vendors signed up, but more are welcome to register this week. She said food vendors should contact her by Wednesday to ensure they receive a city permit for their booth. Craft vendors should also contact her as soon as possible. Vendor forms can be downloaded from the Stinkfest website www.stinkfest.org.
Vendors currently signed up include local restaurants and groups cooking their own food, as well as a beer truck sponsored by the Frances Sherman Auxiliary to VFW Post 212 .
New at the festival will be the Coffee Cafe, the Sweet Shop push cart — featuring homemade ice cream — and Smokey the Bear, provided by the U.S. Forestry Department. Glenn said Kiddyland will be conducted by American Amusement will have plenty of activities for children, as well as pony rides.
The popular leek dip contest, featuring a variety of tasty dips prepared by area residents, will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at the Bradford City Fire Department on East Main Street. Only cold leek dips will be accepted for the contest as there are no electrical outlets available to plug in crockpots for hot dips. Coolers and ice will be provided to keep cold dips fresh. Entry forms for the contest can also be found at the festival’s website.
A new band featured at the festival will be “Luke the Drifter” which will play at the pavilion throughout the day. The band is expected to play music from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
On another note, Glenn said the outhouse races will not be held this year.
“We did not get any takers and we’ve been advertising it since January,” she lamented.
Glenn said an interesting aspect of this year’s Stinkfest is that it has been named as the number one festival in the state among the 11 Best Small Town Pennsylvania Festivals. The listing can be found on the onlyinyourstate website for Pennsylvania.
“It was very surprising,” Glenn said of the honor.
On a final note, Glenn said proceeds from this year’s event will donated to local charities.
“We’re going to play Secret Santa and we’re going to show up at different places and donate,” Glenn said. “We’re going to do that throughout the whole summer.”
