Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to Hinkelfest, of course!
The 33rd annual Hinkelfest will feature a variety of chicken-centered dishes as well as a cooking contest, a craft show, bingo, games and rides, live entertainment, and more. It will run from Friday through Sunday, Sept. 13-15, at Fredericksburg Fireman’s Park.
Guests to the free-admission festival can bring blankets and lawn chairs. Parking for the event in fields on either side of the festival is free.
There will be a tent set up with Hinkelfest merchandise and library books available for purchase. There will also be 20 raffle baskets — in comparison to eight raffle baskets at last year’s festival — that guests can enter to win.
On the final day of Hinkelfest, guests can buy a wristband to ride all the rides for $15, compared to the usual pay-as-you-go system.
The Hinkelfest committee is made up of two members each from five benefiting organizations: American Legion Auxiliary Post 915, Fredericksburg Community Association, Fredericksburg Fire Company, Fredericksburg Lions Club, and Matthews Public Library, as well as several unaffiliated members.
Sue Werner is president of the Hinkelfest committee and one of two members who represent the library. She recently spoke with LebTown about Hinkelfest, with the root of its name, “hinkel,” being Pennsylvania Dutch for “chicken.”
When asked about the organizational process behind the entirely volunteer-run three-day festival, Werner said, “I’m also on the Lebanon Area Fair board. Is it one of those where we start two years in advance? Not quite that way.”
Hinkelfest has evolved in the almost three and a half decades since its inception, but the philosophy of the festival, as Werner put it, is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But a lot of our stuff we keep going from year to year because … it’s been tried and true.”
Werner said it used to be held at the Farmer’s Pride Airport in downtown Fredericksburg. “There’s runways there and stuff, and sometimes, they were a little moist, and we just didn’t want to mess anything up because it is a licensed airport. So, it moved us to move,” she said.
It is now held at the Fredericksburg Fireman’s Park, which is off Route 343 at 2652 S. Pine Grove St.
In addition to the five benefiting organizations, Hinkelfest is supported by two major sponsors: Bell & Evans and First Citizens Community Bank.
“Bell & Evans is very, very supportive,” Werner said. “We can do great things with their support.” The festival sources its chicken products for its menu and funding for its live entertainment from America’s oldest branded poultry company.
This year’s menu features chicken cheesesteaks, chicken burgers, chicken franks, chicken wings, chicken tenders, chicken wraps, chicken egg rolls, chicken fried rice, chicken pot pie, chicken corn noodle soup, and, new to the menu this year, chicken meatball subs.
French fries, funnel cakes, milkshakes, gelato, Italian water ice, and soda are some of the non-chicken menu items that will be available. The menu is subject to change.
Food concessions will open on Friday at 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m.
In addition to the standard menu, Hinkelfest will sell a chicken barbecue dinner on Saturday and a stuffed chicken breast dinner on Sunday, from 11 a.m. until it’s sold out. Both dinners cost $12, a $1 increase from last year’s pricing, which Werner said was due to rising costs.
As for this year’s live entertainment, DJ Doug will perform on Friday from 4 to 6 p.m., again on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On Friday, the Mahoney Brothers will perform from 6 to 10 p.m. On Saturday, the Northern Lebanon Alumni Band will perform starting at 1 p.m., the Jonestown Dance Studio will start at 3 p.m., and the Uptown Band will perform from 6 to 10 p.m. On Sunday, Double Trouble will perform an Elvis gospel show from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., and they will perform an Elvis secular show from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Werner said that the live performances in the evenings at previous years’ festivals have been “very, very well-attended” and that she might take a head count at this year’s festival as a way to estimate attendance.
“I’ve been saying for so many years that we really should be able to devise a way to figure out just how many people are on our grounds,” she said. “It’s a little bit tough because we don’t have a gate, so we don’t have them going through [one] that we could be counting.”
Another “tried and true” element of Hinkelfest is its cooking contest.
Last year’s winners were Shirley Rudy’s Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole in the “Crumb and Get It” category, Emily Kern’s Sun-Dried Tomato Fettuccini Alfredo in the “Around the World in an Afternoon” category, Deb Fidler’s Apple Cider Glazed Chicken Wings in the “Wings & Things” category, and Tara Kline’s Blueberry Zucchini Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting in the “Help! I’m Stuck on a Dessert Aisle” category.
The winners of the cooking contest receive cash prizes and ribbons, and their recipes are published on the Matthews Public Library’s website.
The categories of this year’s cooking contest were announced at the beginning of August as “White Meat. It’s What’s For Dinner,” “Snacks ‘n’ Stuff,” and “Sugar Rush,” with the deadline to enter recipes being Monday, Sept. 9. The entries will be judged during the festival on Saturday, Sept. 14. Click here for contest guidelines.
LCCTC Chef Brian Peffley, longtime judge of the Hinkelfest cooking contest, is unable to judge this year. Werner said that the Matthews Public Library board has been tasked with finding someone to step in as this year’s judge, which will either be someone recommended by Chef Peffley or someone who has served as a Lebanon Area Fair judge.
At this year’s Hinkelfest will also be a craft show, which will run from 5 p.m. to closing time on Friday, from 9 a.m. to closing on Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. More than 30 vendors are set to participate.
Other festival sponsors include Bergey’s Truck Center, BG’s Value Market, Bird-in-Hand Farms, BSG Provisions, D.E. Richard Garage, Esther’s Restaurant, Farmer Boy, Farmer’s Pride Airport, Fredericksburg Dental Center, Fredericksburg Eagle Hotel, Jeff Maz Roofing, K.L. Harring Transportation, Koppy’s Propane, Little Dutchman Trucking, Manada Construction Company, Peters Brothers, Sattazahn Refuse Removal, Sherwin-Williams, and Walker Physical Therapy.
For a complete schedule of events at this year’s festival — which also includes an opening ceremony, a morning worship service, pony rides, and a petting zoo — and for more information, visit the Hinkelfest website.
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