The 2019 annual Shenandoah Kielbasi Festival will be held May 18 on North Main Street in downtown Shenandoah. The event is sponsored by the revitalization group Downtown Shenandoah Inc.

The festival will feature the community’s so-called Three Kielbasi Kings: Capital Food Store, East Washington Street, with Mike Stanakis; Kowalonek’s Kielbasy Shop, South Main Street, with Mark Kowalonek; and Lucky’s Kielbasi Shop and Deli, West Centre Street, with Dave Lukashunas.

Another festival feature will include Mrs. T’s Pierogies, manufactured by Ateeco Inc., Shenandoah’s largest single employer and the world’s largest commercial pierogie maker.

The festival’s heart and soul is the annual homemade smoked and fresh kielbasa contest in which private folks make kielbasa from recipes often handed down in families for generations. Residents, former residents and people from near and far annually enter the contest in bids to earn the coveted Pig Trophy.

The festival also boasts a variety of eastern European items, including Polish pottery, Matrushka dolls, straw ornaments and other items from the “old country.”

There will be live polka music by the Shenandoah All-Star Polka Band as well as ethnic, American and other food, plus crafts and games for children.

Vendors, crafters and artists will line the blocks of North Main Street throughout the day.

The Greater Shenandoah Area Historical Society, 201 S. Main St., and the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society, 105 S. Jardin St., will be open during the festival.

For more information, contact Downtown Shenandoah Inc. at 570-462-2060 or emailing dsi@downtownshenandoahinc.com. More information also is available at www.downtownshenandoah.com.