While growing up in Suburban Chicago, the local church had an annual celebration in the middle of Summer. It was a Catholic Church and they celebrated the Feast Day of the patron Saint of our church, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. It has been known as, "The Feast" for many years. I think it has been going on for well over 100 years in Melrose Park, Illinois. The streets around the church are blocked off. There are food and other vendors as well as an actual carnival ride and game set-up. A Sunday religious procession/parade takes place. The food is ledgendary serving Italian beef and sausage, clams on the half shell, pizza slices, Italian Lemonade, (gelato) roasted or cured nuts, canollis and other stuff too numerous to mention. If your living in the area and not been there, or, if you plan on being near Chicago in the middle of July, check it out.

It seems many times folks are mentioning food they had or seen at a function like a Lions Club Chicken Dinner feed or Fish Fry. Maybe it was an Ethnic Celebration. Maybe a carnival or a regional affair. Sometimes it’s an annual town function that may or may not have anything to do with food like the Green River, Utah Watermelon days or the St. Urho’s Days in Menagha, Minnesota. These events conjur up lots o’ good food. Tell us about your experiences. Many places have, "Taste Of ( put name of town here) functions, leave these out for cities over 20,000. Most of the food served is from the restaurants in that town and if they’re good, they’ve been mentioned in other pages of Roadfood.