This post documents my experience on August 10, 2019.
This year, when Mary Queen of Peace transformed their annual Summerfest into the new Old Brooklyn PierogiFest…
…many pierogi-loving festival goers responded…
…arriving en masse from the start of the festival (3 pm)…
…and easily waiting 1-2 hours in line for their Polish dumping fix.
I arrived later on with my family, showing up at a quarter to 7…


…when only two pierogi food vendors were present (they also sold other Polish dishes)…
…and the lines were too long for a family with two hungry kids.
But things were worse than it seemed.
Shortly after we were about to get some lemonade (shortly after they just ran out of that), I learned that there were actually no pierogi left at the festival.
The vendors had sold out of pierogi!
The pierogi were gone.
Here’s what happened:
Four vendors were originally scheduled, but one was a no-show.
With the crowds that came, the church sold out of their frozen pierogi in 1.5 hours, The Pierogi Lady (not present when I arrived) sold all of her inventory not long after and then the final two vendors sold all of their pierogi somewhere in the 6 o’clock hour…
…a little more than 3 hours after the festival opened.


So while I considered feeding my kids a dinner of cotton candy, kettle corn…
…or even ice cream filled donuts…
…I was lucky enough to run across this miraculous hot dog station in the corner and get my family something to eat.
But, while the food situation was a serious letdown…
…the festival did deliver with great entertainment (Rewind)…


…games of skill…
…and various forms of gambling via Bingo…
…instants…
…raffles…
…and a big money wheel…
…which was conveniently placed next to the bar.
Children had an entire area at the festival…
…complete with face painting…
…wall climbing…
…and even more games…
…some of which were really cool.
And, if anyone wanted to take something home as a souvenir…
…there were religious books and materials…
…cultural T-shirts galore…
…and even plenty of adorable pierogi that, while not-edible, made for adorable Christmas ornaments, jewelry (Pierogi Gifts)…
…and stylish women’s hats that you could clip in your hair (Pierogi Gifts)!