August 7-13, 2003

mixpicks

Pennsylvania Dutch Festival

Never mind driving through the dimly lit streets of Lancaster County if you have a hankering for some Dutch treats this week. Sound the triangle bells. The Amish are coming to Center City. If the brainless flick Kingpin is your only exposure to buggies and beards, this soiree featuring the offerings of the technologically challenged will come as a shocker. No, the Amish aren't here to teach city slickers how to churn butter. They are here to fatten Philadelphians with tasty homemade doughnuts, cakes, pies, ice cream and fudge. Fruity preserves will be available for those with special dietary needs. Crafty folks can also enjoy a multitude of handmade quilts, wooden toys, braided rugs, brooms and cedar chests on display each day. The real party is on Saturday, though, as goats, donkeys, calves and other farm favorites parade down Market Street like a group of Orwellian renegades. Kids can then torment the animals with pellets and flash photography as they enter petting-zoo pens on Filbert Street. Attendees are welcome to hop on a buggy or a pony cart as the parade winds around the block. Just watch out for buggy crossings and angry, escaped chickens.

Pennsylvania Dutch Festival, Thu.-Sat., Aug. 7-9, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., free, Reading Terminal Market, 12th and Arch sts., 215-922-2317, www.readingterminalmarket.org.

—Andrew Parks