Your newsletter companion to The Cultural Traveler
Providing insights into the rich cultural and heritage traditions, events, and experiences across the United States and U.S. territories. |
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CRANBERRIES
Cranberries are native to North America. It’s one of the reasons they feature so prevalently at Thanksgiving. They are harvested in the Fall and predominantly grown in cooler climes like New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the Mid-West, and the Pacific Northwest.
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Image courtesy of Warrens Cranberry Festival, Inc.
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I made cranberry sauce, and when it was done put it into a dark blue bowl for the beautiful contrast. I was thinking, doing this, about the old ways of gratitude: Indians thanking the deer they'd slain, grace before supper, kneeling before bed. I was thinking that gratitude is too much absent in our lives now, and we need it back, even if it only takes the form of acknowledging the blue of a bowl against the red of cranberries.
--- Elizabeth Berg, American Author
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The Wampanoag People of southeastern Massachusetts called them sasumuneash, or sour berry, and used them as both food and medicine. The South Jersey Leni-Lenape People called them ibimi, or bitter berry.
Whether harvesting grapes in California, apples in Pennsylvania, or pumpkins in Illinois, communities across the country gather, as they gather, to celebrate their harvest, the community, and each other, and the cranberry harvest is no different.
There are numerous festivals across the country celebrating cranberries, so get out there any enjoy the celebration of this uniquely American fruit.
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Warrens Cranberry Festival in Warrens, Wisconsin, located about halfway between Madison and Eau Claire, is touted as the largest cranberry festival in the country. Spanning three days, over the last full weekend in September, and attracting more than 120,000 attendees, the festival is an all-out cranberry celebration packed with iconic Americana. Complete with a parade, cranberry pie eating contest, and crowning of a Cranberry Festival Queen.
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Cranberry chiffon pie eating contest.
Image courtesy of Warrens Cranberry Festival, Inc.
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Chatsworth, NJ in southern New Jersey hosts an annual Cranberry Festival to benefit the historic White Horse Inn. The White Horse Inn has the distinction of being the oldest building in Chatsworth, dating to the 1860s, and is on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.
In Middleborough, Massachusetts, The Barn on Benson’s Pond hosts the annual Cranberry Harvest & Artisan Market, which brings together local artisans, craft makers, and music. They also offer a hands-on Cranberry Bogger for a Day harvest experience where you learn first-hand about the process and get to harvest cranberries.
Bandon Cranberry Festival in Bandon, Oregon is held annually, the second weekend in September. 2020 will be the 74th annual festival and celebrates southwestern Oregon’s largest agricultural crop. There is something for everyone at Cranberry City with live music and performing arts, classic cars and farm equipment, carnival rides, sports, shopping, dining, and contests.
The Cranberrian Fair in Ilwaco, Washington, is held annually on the second weekend in October. Events take place between The Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum and the Pacific Coast Cranberry Research Foundation’s Cranberry Museum & Giftshop. The weekend is crammed with crafts, food, music, and harvest demonstrations. And, the 2020 will also be the Fair’s 100th anniversary.
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We'd love to hear from you. What's your favorite cranberry recipe, experience, or story? Email us at info@theculturaltraveler.com or share on our Facebook page.
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