New Britain showed off its Polish pride Sunday, with the 6th annual Little Poland Festival.
The event started in 2012 with 600 guests and grew to 20,000 in 2016. With 20 new vendors, more visitors were expected to descend on Broad Street on Sunday.
The Weirs, first-time visitors who traveled more than two hours from Pennsylvania said they made sure to make the most of their road trip to Connecticut.
“Like to try different kielbasas, pierogies,” said Renee Weir. “We actually ate at the Polish restaurant up the road, and we were at the one market and we stocked up on the Kielbasa and Polish food already.”
Many agreed that the menu was the main draw. From kielbasa, to golabki, to pierogi the most popular Polish foods were offered up and down Broad Street.
“It’s very difficult to find Polish food outside of New Britain,” explained Gregory Goodstein, who came from West Hartford to be at the festival as soon as it opened at 10 a.m.
The Bernat family brought their food truck, Bernat’s Family Deli, down from Chicopee, Massachusetts to be part of the festival, for the second year in a row.
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“Once the doors open just utter chaos. People were everywhere. There’ll be a line and it won’t stop until six o’clock,” Melissa Bernat recalled.
A new vendor, the Polish Falcons, a fraternal organization based in Southington, hoped to cash in on that crowd.
“We had people that came here last year and they waited over an hour to get food,” said Jim Sokowlowski, President of the Polish Falcons.
This year, the organization decided to pitch their own tent, selling plates of Polish sausage and sauerkraut.
Besides the food, there was running entertainment on the stage from Polka dancers to a paczki eating contest. A carnival, art walk, and beer garden rounded out the festivities.
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