Go Pennsylvania Dutch at Kutztown Folk Festival

Since 1950, a festival dedicated to the culture and traditions of the Pennsylvania Dutch (who are actually not Dutch at all, thus none of these activities are associated with Holland) has been held in Kutztown, PA. This year's Kutztown Folk Festival, the 65th anniversary, starts on Saturday, June 28 and lasts for an impressive nine days until Sunday, July 6. Held at the Kutztown Fairgrounds, the fair's new extended hours—10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day (and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the event's final day), allow folks to experience all the sights, sounds and tastes of the extravaganza.

Every day on the Main Stage get the 4-1-1 on Pennsylvania Dutch dialect with this humorous presentation by experts Bill Meck and Leroy Brown at 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.—except for Saturday when they go on at 2 p.m. (They'll also give this talk on the Seminar Stage at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily.)

This event brings a medley of interesting speakers to the Seminar Stage, but at 11:30 a.m. every day, Berks County Hexologist Patrick Donmoyer will talk about the meanings behind hex signs and barn stars and the myths that go along with them.

Over on the Children's Stage, daily flea circus shows will entertain young crowds at 11:15 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. as well as puppet shows at noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Take part in an Independence Day celebration worthy of a Pennsylvania Dutch seal of approval. The festival's 4th of July parade runs from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Friday, July 4.

Throughout the course of the festival, the world-famous Quilt Barn will be open, featuring over 2,500 local Mennonite-handmade quilts and wall hangings that are available for purchase. However, the top quilts will be put up for auction on Saturday, July 5 at noon. 24 selected works will be available for this competitive shopping experience at the Main Stage.

Whenever you're not attending a specific seminar or listening to a band—like Pennsylvania Dutch duo Keith Brintzenhoff and Ted Fenstermacher or harp music from Sarah Jane Williams, you can check out the Miller Family Dancers, consisting of four generations of hoedown dancers, on the Hoedown Stage at any of their noon, 1:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. performances on any day of the festival. A few sheep shearing demonstrations will also occur in between performances at this stage.

Attractions held all day long during the celebration include a petting zoo, antique engine display, farm demonstrations, Mennonite culture show and pony rides.

Prepare to stomach the most Pennsylvania Dutch fare you can eat: sausage, pot pie, corn fritters, funnel cake, shoo-fly pie, apple fritters, fresh baked bread, daily 1,200 pound ox roast and full-course all-you-can-eat family style dinners are festival staples.

All the stages are safely housed under tents, so no need to worry about weather—all activities will go on as planned.