MEQUON, Wis. — The annual Jewish Food Festival is returning for another year of festivities in Mequon this summer.
The festival will take place Sunday, Aug. 14 and Monday, Aug. 15 from noon to 7 p.m. at Rotary Park in Mequon, located at 4100 W. Highland Road.
The festival’s history:
The festival was created from the “Taste of Kosher” tables that Rabbi Luchins and his wife Sheina hosted at local grocery stores.
Shoppers would rave about the wide variety of Jewish food such as challah, kugel, matzah ball soup, and different deserts such as babka.
The Luchins thought combining the Milwaukee festival traditions for food would make the experience even better for guests, and from there the Jewish Food Festival was born.
Rabbi Luchins stated the first festival had about 80 people to help volunteer with the crowd, which saw about 3,500 people come through the gates over two days to enjoy the food.
Last year, festival numbers grew with over 5,000 people from all over the area.
If you go to this year’s festival:
This year’s menu will include a Pastrami Knish; a classic knish studded with sliced pastrami and onions, deli sandwiches and pulled beef on a pretzel bun; according to the Luchins. To top off the menu, the festival will also have Israeli-styled food choices, such as shawarma and falafel served in pita.
From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on both evenings, there will be dinner specials for fair-goers. Sunday’s special will be the Classic Jewish Cholent with Potato Kugel and Monday’s special will be the return of the popular Glazed Beef Ribs.
You can do more besides eat at the Jewish Food Festival, especially if you bring kids. The space of Rotary Park allows space for a petting zoo and other activities for children, such as the returning entertainment tent. Inside the tent, families can watch entertaining performances from jugglers, clowns, stilt walkers, and a magician.
New this year will be performances from the Milwaukee Flyers, a local acrobat group. They will be performing twice on Sunday.
The special attraction at this year’s fair is the extra-large Fun Zone. It will be available for children of all ages and unlimited wristband access will only cost $4.
A free Sunday evening concert from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. will finish off the first day of the festival.
The Jewish Food Festival is a program of the Peltz Center for Jewish Life in Mequon, a division of Lubavitch of Wisconsin.
Admission to the festival is free. Proceeds from the event will fund the community outreach program of the Peltz Center for Life.
For more information, click here.
