St. John Cantius Polish Festival - Tremont

…St. John Cantius is an old, ethnic church…

…with a beautiful interior…

…ornate detail…

…and great religious statues (OK, so I’m a sucker for statues).

Again, the possibility came to see a church, its parishioners, and cultural history in action…

…except, this time, I liked what I saw.

Held on the church grounds in a building adjacent to the church, the festival was small, but packed with Polish culture. We followed festival goers first up a huge staircase and into the gymnasium, where we found Polish…

…pride…

…gifts…

…baked goods…

…and plenty of entertainment.

To spice the festivity a bit, there were also tables set up with games…

…for small winnings and prizes…

…although they did have a segregated area for the more serious gambler.

Just outside the gym entrance, the festival used the cubbyholes on each side of the staircase to sell ala carte food items…

…and plenty of beer.

From here, Julia, some friends and I bought pierogies (potato/kraut), Polish sausage and cabbage and noodles and we carried them downstairs, around the corner and down a quasi-secret passageway which led us to a dining room.

And that room connected to another room…

…with even more food served by the well-known Sokolowski’s…

…as well as a second dining area.

Although knowing I would be too stuffed to indulge, I went searching for desserts in this second dining area…

…and there were enough to make St. John Cantius proud.