With almost 10,000 in attendance last year, the Ohio Pawpaw Festival in Albany, Ohio, draws in crowds of traveling visitors, excitedly anticipating a taste of the Eastern U.S. native fruit, the pawpaw, or asimina triloba.
The pawpaw is the largest fruit native to North America, according to the Ohio Pawpaw Growers Association, which had a stand at the event. The boldly tropical-flavored fruit currently grows in around 26 eastern states, but isn't sold in local markets and grocery stores, explained John Stupica, member of the Ohio Pawpaw Growers Association.
“You don't see them in the store, because it's hard to transport, they get soft really easy,” Stupica said. “It's not like a grape or an apple that you could have in a box for and ship it far. You can't ship this far.”
With the rarity of running into a pawpaw, unless you grow your own, the Ohio Pawpaw Festival might be one of the few times visitors will try one.
Julie Zickefoose, from Whipple, Ohio, has attended the festival for eight years now. This year, she drove down and met up with her friends who enjoy the pawpaw atmosphere just as much as she does.
“I want to support this festival,” Zickefoose said. “It's really lovely. It's really cool that they celebrate local indigenous food for sure.”
Zickefoose described herself as the former “Pawpaw Queen,” a title she held until she foraged 38 pounds of it, forming an allergy against the fruit.
“I found them myself,” Zickefoose said. “I had this backpack that I would just load up, but I think I just got exposed to them and ate too much one year, and now I can’t eat them at all.”
Although she can’t personally enjoy the mango-pineapple mixed sweetness of a pawpaw anymore, the bands and live performances are another large draw that brings her to the event, she said.
With rows of food trucks and stands, the attendees had an immense amount of options for snacks, either pawpaw-themed or not.
Meghan and Matt Feyeraband, owners of Pure Joy Ice Cream in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, have been vendors at the festival twice now. Traveling 900 miles, the couple enjoys being involved in a community that has the same interest.
“This is definitely the biggest pawpaw festival,” Matt Feyeraband said. “It’s fun to connect with people who are also passionate about pawpaws.”
With special pawpaw-flavored menu items like their pawpaw lime sorbet and pawpaw sumac sorbet, the Feyerabands have incorporated their love for the fruit into their sweets for five years now.
“We make a lot of pawpaw products, so this is a really great outlet to not only sell those products but also learn about growing pawpaws,” Matt Feyeraband said. “There’s so many people teaching about pawpaws.”
The Arkansas couple won the 2023 Pawpaw Cook-Off in the professional division with their pawpaw caramel sauce.
Not only were there food vendors, but many local and small businesses had their own tents lined up, selling jewelry and ceramics. For Micaiah Clouse, that product is handmade clothing from recycled materials. A recent dance graduate of Ohio University, Clouse was raised in Athens and now has her own store, Thistle Stitch.
“I grew up going to this festival, so it’s a lot of fun to come back and see how it grows every year and see it through the lenses of different people I meet,” Clouse said. “Getting to meet college friends and see the college community get involved with Athens through the Pawpaw Festival is really beautiful.”
Although they only just now wrapped up the 2024 Pawpaw Festival, festival planning never stops for the Pawpaw Fest team.
“It’s going on all the time,” Festival founder Chris Chmiel said. “While we’re doing this one, we have this team of people, and we’re always trying to make it better.”
Over the years, Chmiel has seen growth in the weekend-long event, but each year strives for more.
“It’s gotten bigger and I feel like it’s gotten better as far as our team and how we deliver things,” Chmiel said. “It’s a challenge to put on a good event year after year, but we try our best.”
