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Other stories in "Heritage travel"

• Finding Embarrass
  Minnesota's cold spot is stronghold of the Finns.
• Valleys of Vernon County
  In the nooks of Wisconsin's coulee country, people of all kinds found a niche.
• Tulip Time in Pella
  In central Iowa, the Dutch celebrate colorful origins.
• Destination: Stockholm
  Once the promised land, a Lake Pepin village now is a favorite day trip.
• Heritage travel: Dakota and Ojibwe
  Despite centuries of disruption, their cultures survive.
• Polish for a day
  At Milwaukee's lakefront festivals, visitors get a big helping of another culture.
• Cozying up to the Cornish
  A fall festival honors the miners who left their mark on Mineral Point.
• Heritage travel: Norway
  Led by Norwegians, an exodus from Scandinavia changed the face of the Upper Midwest.
• Heritage travel: Germany
  In the Upper Midwest, many of our most beloved traditions came over with the Germans.
• Heritage travel: Switzerland
  In Wisconsin's cheese country, townspeople hang on to tradition.
• Nordic nirvana
  Every July, Decorah puts on one of the best fests in the Midwest.

Celebrating roots

No matter where you're from, there's a festival for you.

In general, I like my heritage. It involves Vikings and trolls and populist politics. At festivals, tow-headed children dance around in cute outfits.

But the food . . . not so much. When it comes to herring and lutefisk, I'd rather be Polish. Plump pierogi with sour cream and sauteed onions — now, there's an ethnic food I can love.

Luckily, it's easy to piggyback on other cultures in the Upper Midwest. Yes, many of us came  from Germany, Ireland and Norway. But we also came from Greece, Ghana, Switzerland, Iceland, Scotland, Ukraine — and there are festivals honoring those cultures and those of the Dakota, Ojibwe, Cree and Ho-Chunk, who already were here.

Some of these festivals are the biggest in the region — Decorah's Nordic Fest brings 75,000 people to a town of 8,000 — so it's a good idea to plan far in advance.

If you’d like to reconnect with your heritage, or explore someone else’s, here's a list of summer and fall festivals. And for stories about ethnic communities in the Upper Midwest — Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, German, Dutch, Swiss, Dakota and Ojibwe — see Heritage Travel.

Here are some of the best festivals in 2010.

African-American

June 19, Juneteenth Day in Minneapolis. Wirth Park and Lincoln Middle School. 612-238-3733.

June 19, Juneteenth Day Festival in Milwaukee. On Martin Luther King Drive, 800-554-1448.

American Indian

May 29-31, Ho-Chunk Nation Powwow in Black River Falls, two miles east of Majestic Pines casino on Wisconsin 54, competition. 715-284-4563, www.ho-chunknation.com, www.blackrivercountry.net.

It's just one of many  Memorial Day powwows; for others, check www.drumhop.com or see Powwow primer.

June, Dakota Homecoming and Gathering in Winona. 800-657-4972.

Sept. 4-6, Ho-Chunk Nation Powwow. Many other powwows are held over Labor Day.

Sept. 10-12, Indian Summer Festival in Milwaukee. At Maier Festival Park.

Arab

Aug. 6-8, Arab World Fest in Milwaukee. At Maier Festival Park. 800-554-1448.

Belgian

July 10-11, Belgian Days in Brussels, Wis., in Door County. 920-746-0274.

Caribbean

July 2-5, African-Caribbean International Festival of Life in Chicago. In Washington Park. Admission, $10. 312-427-0266.

July 24, Carifest in Minneapolis. On the west bank of the Mississippi between Broadway and Plymouth avenues.

Aug. 1, Belize Day in the Park in Chicago. In Washington Park. 773-881-0412.

Aug., Carifete in Chicago. At Midway Plaisance in Hyde Park. 773-509-4942.

Aug. 20-22, Caribbean Festival in Chicago. In Union Park.

Celtic

March 13, Celtic Festival in Moorhead, Minn., at the Hjemkomst Center, sponsored by Moorhead Parks.

May 8-9,  Celtic Fest Chicago. In Millennium Park.

Aug. 18, Celtic Highland Games of the Quad Cities at Centennial Park in downtown Davenport.

Sept. 24-26, Cornish Festival in Mineral Point.

Chinese

July, Chinatown Summer Fair in Chicago, 877-244-2246.

Czech

May 14-16, Houby Days in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In Czech Village.

June 12-13, Cesky Den in Hillsboro, Wis.

June 18-20, Czech-Slovak Festival in Phillips, Wis.

Sept. 17-18, Dozinky in New Prague, Minn.

Danish

May 29-30, Tivoli Fest in Elk Horn, Iowa, at the Danish Museum.

July 16-18, Danish Days in Viborg, S.D., south of Sioux Falls.

July 23-25, Aebleskiver Days in Tyler, Minn.

Dutch

April 30-May 1, Dutch Days in Fulton, Ill., with 3 p.m. Saturday parade.

May 1-8, Tulip Time in Holland, Mich., 800-822-2770.

May 6-8, Tulip Time in Pella, Iowa, 641-628-4311.

May 13-15, Tulip Festival in Orange City, Iowa. 712-707-4510.

July 10, Kermis, Dutch summer festival, in Pella, Iowa. At Pella Historical Village, 888-746-3882.

July 9-10, Dutch Festival in Edgerton, Minn.

July 30-31, Holland Festival in Cedar Grove, Wis., near Lake Michigan just south of Sheboygan.

Oct. 9, Kermis Dutch Festival in Little Chute, Wis., just east of Appleton on the Fox River.

Finnish

June 12, Finnish-American Summer Festival in Embarrass, Minn.

French

July 8-11, Bastille Days in Milwaukee. On Cathedral Square.

German

June 10-13, Bavarian Festival in Frankenmuth, Mich.

July 16-18, Bavarian Blast in New Ulm, Minn..

July 17-18, German Festival in Cedarburg, Wis.

July 23-25, German Fest in Milwaukee. At Maier Festival Park.

Sept. 10-12, German-American Festival in Chicago. In Lincoln Square.

Sept. 24-25, German Fest in Guttenberg, Iowa.

Ghanaian

July 31, Ghana Fest in Chicago. In Washington Park. 773-905-8096.

Greek

Aug., Taste of Greece in Chicago. In Greektown.

Icelandic

July 30-Aug. 2, the 121st Islendingadagurinn (Icelandic Festival of Manitoba) in Gimli, the largest Icelandic community outside Iceland.

Irish

June 11-13, Irish Festival in Oshkosh, Wis. In Riverside Park on the Fox River.

July 9-11, Irish American Heritage Festival in Chicago. At the Irish American Heritage Center.

Aug. 6-8, Iowa Irish Fest in Waterloo. In Lincoln Park.

Aug. 13-15, Irish Fair in St. Paul. On Harriet Island.

Aug. 13-15, Irishfest in La Crosse, Wis. On the Southside Fest grounds.

Aug. 19-22, Irish Fest in Milwaukee. In Maier Festival Park.

Aug., Irish Hooley in Dubuque, Iowa. At the Alliant Amphitheater on the Mississippi riverfront.

Sept. 3-5, Irish Fest in Kansas City. In Crown Center Square downtown.

Sept. 17-19, Michigan Irish Music Festival in Muskegon. At Heritage Landing on Muskegon Lake.

Oct., Irish Festival in Weston, Mo., a historic Missouri River village just north of Kansas City.

Oct. 10, Irish Festival in Winnipeg. At the West End Cultural Centre.

Italian

July 15-18, Festa Italiana in Milwaukee. At Maier Festival Park.

Aug. 6-8, Festa Italiana in Rockford, Ill. On the grounds of Boylan High School.

Aug. 1-2, Festa Italiana in Thunder Bay. At the Italian Cultural Centre in the Port Arthur neighborhood.

Luxembourg

Aug. 5-8, Luxembourg Heritage Weekend in Belgium, Wis. The grand opening of the Luxembourg American Cultural Center is Saturday.

Mexican

May 7-8, Cinco de Mayo in St. Paul's West Side.

June 25-27, Fiesta Waukesha in Waukesha, Wis. In Frame Park on the Fox River, just west of Milwaukee.

Aug. 20-22, Mexican Fiesta in Milwaukee. At Maier Festival Park.

Sept. 9-11, Festival de la Villita in Chicago, with Mexican Independence Day parade Sept. 11 on Columbus Drive between Balbo and Monroe.

Norwegian

May 14-16, Syttende Mai in Stoughton, Wis.

May 14-16, Syttende Mai in Westby, Wis.

May 14-16, Syttende Mai in Spring Grove, Minn.

June 19-20, Midsummer Festival near Westby, Wis. At Norskedalen heritage museum.

Polish

May 1, Polish Constitution Day parade in Chicago on Columbus Drive between Balbo and Monroe.

June 18-20, Polish Fest in Milwaukee (See Polish for a day). At Maier Festival Park.

Aug. 21-22, Twin Cities Polish Festival in Minneapolis, on the Mississippi riverfront across from downtown.

Puerto Rican

June 19, Fiestas Puertorriquenas in Chicago, with Puerto Rican Day parade on Columbus Drive. At Humboldt Park.

Scandinavian

June 4-6, Scandinavian Days in Story City, Iowa.

June 11-12, Nisswa-Stãmman Scandinavian Folk Festival in Nisswa, Minn.

June, Scandinavian Festival in Roseau, Minn.

June 25-27, Scandinavian Hjemkomst Festival at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, Minn.

July 22-24, Nordic Fest in Decorah, Iowa.

Scottish

May 22, Minnesota Scottish Fair and Highland Games. On the Dakota County Fairgrounds in Farmington.

June 5, Scottish Fest & Highland Games in Milwaukee. At Hart Park in the suburb of Wauwatosa.

June 19, Manitoba Highland Gathering in Selkirk.

Sept. 3-5, Wisconsin Highland Games & Celtic Fling. At the Expo Center in Waukesha, a suburb of Milwaukee.

Swedish

June 12-13, Midsommarfest in Chicago. In the Andersonville neighborhood.

June 19, Midsommar Celebration in Minneapolis. At the American Swedish Institute.

June 26, Midsommar Dag in Scandia, Minn. At Gammelgården Museum.

June, Svenskarnas Dag in Minneapolis. At Minnehaha Park, 612-825-8808.

July 7-11, Karl Oskar Days in Lindstrom, Minn., in the Chisago Lakes area.

Swiss

June 25-27, Heidi Festival in New Glarus, Wis.

Aug. 7-8, Swissfest in Berne, Minn. 800-322-2478.

Aug. 1, Swiss Volksfest in New Glarus.

Sept. 3-5, Wilhelm Tell Festival in New Glarus.

Turkish

May 23-26, Turkish Festival in Chicago. On Daley Plaza.

Ukrainian

July 30-Aug. 1, Canada's National Ukrainian Festival in Dauphin, Manitoba.

And everywhere else

August 1-14, Winnipeg holds Folklorama, with 45 pavilions celebrating the nationalities who have come to this melting pot on the Manitoba prairie. Pavilions are devoted to the countries above as well as to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Hungary, India, Spain, Portugal, the Philippines, Serbia, Croatia, Cuba, El Salvador, Indochina, Russia, Slovenia and the Tamil region on the Indian Ocean.

Venues are throughout the city. Call 800-665-0234.

Last updated on February 13, 2010