Obetz Zucchinifest

When going to festivals in smaller towns, I usually don’t have a problem finding them. I put “downtown” in the GPS and then cruise into the town, looking for roads closed for the event, carnival rides peaking over buildings or a line of cars all turning down the same road.

For the Obetz Zucchinifest, I decided to use the website for parking information. And, although there weren’t directions on where to go…

…there was this map.

So I typed “Speedway Lane” in the GPS…

…but, when I got there, I had a sudden doubt and decided not to turn.

My hesitation came because I didn’t see signs, any carnival rides in the distance or even any cars turning down this road. So I headed into Obetz, where I drove along winding roads, turned around a lot and eventually followed cars through a suburban neighborhood to a parking field where tractors took you to the festival in the distance.

Not wanting to wait around for a ride on tractors, I headed back to Speedway Lane because I thought it might be closer to the festival itself and, this time, I saw the sign pointing me in.

I cursed myself for not seeing it the first time and found a parking place.

But once I got out of the car…

…I realized that there was tractor transport service on this side too!

I sighed and decided to walk…

…first passing an area for an enormous car show…

…where historical cars were showcased in their freshly waxed glory…

…and then a beer vendor all by its lonesome…

…before I made it to the stage.

Unlike many other festivals, the audience area was quite ample and with good reason. There was a large focus on the musical entertainment at the Zucchinifest and Rick Springfield was going to be playing Saturday night.

Mighty impressive for a village of 4000.

And, although I didn’t see Rick perform…

…I was pretty impressed by the bit of music I did see/hear.

But I still hadn’t reached the official festival grounds yet…

…they were way over there!

I eventually made my way as the tractors drove past me and, once arrived, I took notice of…

…lines of vendors…

…including those who celebrated Halloween a bit early…

…a carnival area with rides and carnival food…

…a large dining tent…

…and plenty of food vendors.

Being that the website advertised zucchini treats, I combed the food vendor menus for interesting zucchini dishes. I had a particular craving for zucchini pancakes, but was willing to settle for some fried zucchini, fried zucchini blossoms or the advertised zucchini burgers.

But even though booths fried…

…fish, french fries…

…peaches, PB&J sandwiches, cheese, corn dogs…

…and even vegetables…

…there were no fried zucchini or other zucchini products to be had…

…until you made your way to the Information tent…

…to remember why you were here.

Under this tent…

…zucchini was honored and utilized…

…even if in a rather creepy way.

And, although I was happy that they sold…

…zucchini brownies…

…countless types of zucchini bread…

…and zucchini in the purest of forms…

…I still wished there was more.

I hadn’t found the zucchini burgers that they advertised on the website, nor other zucchini products, but perhaps I had simply missed them like the parking signs on my way to the festival.

Perhaps I was simply having that kind of day.

But perhaps the festival was too…

….because that pineapple zucchini bread I bought…

…which looked moist and delicious and sweet…

…turned out to be crumbly and almost tasteless aside from that pocket of baking soda.

Fortunately, I didn’t buy the cookbook.