Annual Pennsylvania German Heritage Fest at HACC-Lebanon Campus
Feb. 25, 2010
LEBANON, PA – There is always something to new to learn, or eat, at the Pennsylvania German Heritage Fest, this year from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, March 6, at the Lebanon Campus of HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College.
The 15th annual Pennsylvania German Heritage Festival is a free public celebration featuring food, art, crafts, music and history at the campus downtown at 735 Cumberland St. It attracts about 1,000 visitors annually from Central Pennsylvania, and as far away as Maryland, Virginia and even Germany.
“The festival started out as a project of the Pennsylvania German Studies program at the Lebanon Campus for a greater appreciation of Pennsylvania German history, culture and language,” said Jim Dibert, director of the program.
“The festival has grown over the years and for those who are Pennsylvania German, they come (to the festival) to celebrate their heritage and to gain a deeper understanding of how they and their ancestors have made contributions to society,” Dibert says. “For those who are not of that group, they come to find out who they are and get a more authentic understanding of Pennsylvania German history and culture.”
Among the festivities:
Traditional Pennsylvania German crafts and art
Pennsylvania German genealogy, history and language resources
Delicious Pennsylvania Dutch food
Music in the Pennsylvania German dialect
Speakers on Pennsylvania German topics
Food for sale is provided by Hitz’s Farm Market, Manheim, which has served the event since the festival’s inception. Offerings will include traditional German specialties, such as chicken pot pie, schnitz un gnepp (apples and buttons, which is an entree of ham, raised dumplings and stewed apples) and shoofly pie. Crafts by artisans will include fraktur, scherenschnitte, redware and Moravian stars. History, genealogy, language and literature resources will be available and several booths will be filled from area non-profit organizations that promote culture and history of the area.
This is a project of the Pennsylvania German Studies Program and supported by HACC, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Community of Lebanon Association.
For more information, call or leave a message for Jim Dibert at 274-2297.
