SUNDERLAND — The annual Potato Festival at Smiarowski Farmstand & Creamy returns on Saturday, Nov. 1, and Sunday, Nov. 2, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for its ninth year of celebrating its crown crop.
A baked potato bar with a selection of local toppings like bacon bits and broccoli, as well as fries, burgers, hot dogs and a plethora of Polish dishes, from kielbasa to pierogi, potato salad, sauerkraut and the “lazy pierogi” pasta dish, will be served in celebration of potatoes and owner Teddy C. Smiarowski III’s Polish roots.
“We’re a big Polish family, obviously,” Smiarowski said. “We like to celebrate the heritage as well as the harvest.”
According to Smiarowski, the farm’s potato yield this year proved to be “excellent” amid chilly weather and no disease or excessive rain during the growing season.
“Potatoes love cool weather,” he noted.
With potatoes straight from the farm’s soil and other local ingredients, Smiarowski said past visitors have told him the festival’s baked potato beats the Big E’s.
“It’s real good local food,” Smiarowski said. “We’re cutting the French fries right there as they’re being fried and served.”
Sweet treats will top off the meal, including ice cream, pies, fresh cider doughnuts and a cider doughnut sundae. As for beverages, water, soda, beer, wine and even a “fallmosa” — a mimosa made with apple cider instead of orange juice — will be served.
Children can partake in activities like pumpkin painting and games in the farm’s greenhouse.
Country band CobbleStone Road and a polka band will perform.
‘They get to hear something different if someone’s never heard a polka dance,” Smiarowski said, adding that the festival draws both locals and visitors across town and state lines.
Smiarowski started the Potato Festival after noticing similar celebrations of crops like the North Quabbin Garlic & Arts Festival and NEPM’s Asparagus Festival.
“I figured, potatoes are the biggest crop we grow in the [Pioneer Valley],” Smiarowski said. “Why aren’t we celebrating that?”
Admission to the festival is free, but attendees must pay for food.
“We want people to come out and celebrate it. It’s more about coming and seeing what we do and what we have and experiencing it,” he said. “We want the people to have a good time.”