You'll also learn a few new words and might find yourself becoming addicted to the tastes and traditions of a community's heritage. It's the strongest coffee you can find. It actually foams. One cup is plenty. Held at the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum on Sept. 22 this year, the festival is a celebration of all things Scandinavian.
Visitors can tour the log houses, schoolhouse and Norwegian church on the museum grounds.
The celebration, scheduled for Oct. 13, is held at Ushers Ferry Historic Village. The biggest decision visitors to the Hawkeye Area Grand Gaelic Isles Society may be forced to make is whether to sample a dinner plate or dine on the sampler platter, said Barb Horak, secretary of the organizing group. It may be the accordion music that attracts visitors to Croatian Fest in Centerville, but the polenta and pigs in a blanket don't hurt. For those who have missed the first 14 annual celebrations, polenta is mush-cooked cornmeal and pigs in a blanket are meatballs rolled in cabbage leaves. The folks from Lake Charles, La., are quick to help Sioux City with its Krewe de Charlie Sioux Mardi Gras Gala.