Feast your eyes on Santa-Cali-Gon

In just a week the Historic Independence Square will be crawling with people eager to take part in the annual Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival, and no Santa-Cali-Gon experience would be complete without sampling some of the original food that makes the festival such a huge success every year.

“I think people come every year to visit their favorite booths,” said Teresa Freeland, special projects assistant for the Independence Chamber of Commerce. “We like variety because we live here in the Midwest.”

For the brave souls, with stomach to spare, who want to try a sampling of everything at the festival, Freeland has some advice.

“They would have to start at one end of the courthouse block and work their way around it,” Freeland said, adding the food festivities don’t end there. “Then go down the side streets.”

But if sampling everything isn’t in your Labor Day weekend plans, The Examiner, with Freeland’s help, has compiled Top 10 list of Santa-Cali-Gon food must haves.



10 Kettle corn.

Every festival, craft fair and event in Eastern Jackson County has one thing in common – those massive cast-iron skillets popping with sweet, fluffy kernels of popcorn. Grab a big bag and munch your way through all the vendors.



9 Potatoes.

This is more than your run-of-the-mill baked, mashed or fried apples of the earth. Santa-Cali-Gon features it’s own take on potatoes – fried potatoes with onions is always good or the deep fried curly potatoes that you can slather with an array of toppings.



8 Soft frozen lemonade.

It’s frozen lemonade you can eat with a spoon. And if it melts, you can still drink it. And lemonade (frozen or not) is good for any kind of unpredictable Santa-Cali-Gon weekend weather. “Soft frozen lemonade is a staple,” Freeland said.



7 Fried Twinkies.

It may sound a little strange to a festival newcomer but until you’ve had a bit of that fried sweetness, you have no idea what you’re missing, and it’s one of Freeland’s festival favorites. “I just love sweets,” Freeland said.



6 Pineapple bratwursts.

This is a new food offering to the festival this year (Freeland says all of the food vendors from last year are returning as well). “They say it’s a really good combination,” Freeland said of the bratwursts.



5 Alligator on a stick.

Make sure you get this zesty little treat before your hands are full of festival goodies because you’ll need both hands for this deep-fried, breaded beast – one to hold your entree and one for the dipping sauce. But don’t worry if your hands are full, there are plenty of places to park it and eat. “We’ve got the partners’ tent,” Freeland said. “It’s got tables and chairs set up for people to sit and eat or relax.” That’s on Lexington between Main and Liberty (perfect walking distance from the fried alligator stand also on Lexington) if you’re curious.



4 Strawberry puffs.

IHOP has nothing on this puffy pastry, stacked to the gills with strawberries and whipped topping, this relatively new festival treat is becoming quite popular.



3 Root beer.

Granted, it’s not a food, but you can’t have a successful trip to Santa-Cali-Gon without getting one of the collectible root beer bottles to keep on your desk. Plus, they’ll refill it for you all weekend at a reduced cost.



2 Chuckwagon cookies.

What can really be better than two chocolate chip cookies smothering a big dab of vanilla ice cream? It’s a great way to top off your festival meal, and it won’t break the bank. “The girls up here love the chuckwagon cookies,” Freeland said.



1 Funnel cakes.

It would be impossible to enjoy a festival without a funnel cake. And it’s important to decide whether you want a traditional funnel cake – just the powdered sugar, thanks – or if you want to be more adventurous and add some fruit topping to it. But you better make up your mind quickly, those church volunteers, Freeland said, have the art of funnel cake making down, and the long lines are proof. So hurry up and decide because the line behind you is growing impatient.



Honorable mention

Because Santa-Cali-Gon is known as much for it’s food options as it’s unique vendors, it’s too hard to narrow the list down to just 10. So here’s our list of yummy festival offerings that almost made the list.

• Tri-tip sandwich – beef, bread – always a good a combination.
• Turkey leg – if you can’t make it to the Renaissance Festival during Labor Day weekend, enjoy a turkey leg a shout “huzzah” from the Parents without Partners booth. After all, you only get one weekend to enjoy Santa-Cali-Gon.
• Opti dog – This festival favorite is quickly becoming to Santa-Cali-Gon what ballpark franks are to baseball (essential).
• Chocolate covered cheesecake – frozen cheesecake on a stick dipped in chocolate. You’ll never look at cheesecake the same again.
• Corn on the cob – stop by Ye ’Ole Corn Hole and get a piece of corn on the cob dripping with butter.
• Roasted almonds – this cinnamon goodness of a snack is good hot out of the bag or cold, you know when you’ve actually reached your festival food limit and know you’ll have to finish them at home later.
• Doughnuts – the festival, this year, will be home to several different breakfast pastries. From cinnamon rolls to lil orbits (they’re mini doughnuts, and quite tasty, Freeland says) to the doughnut of doughnuts – Krispy Kreme.
• Any of the other hamburger, hot dog, barbecue beef, gyro or other treats offered at the fair. They’re all connected to a worthy cause with lots of hard work from area volunteers. So whatever your taste, have a treat or two, it goes to a good cause.