Long Island Potato Festival draws crowds at Farmingdale State
Crowds filled Farmingdale State College for the first day of the inaugural Long Island Potato Festival. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
The strategies varied among festivalgoers to determine the number of potatoes piled several feet high at the Long Island Potato Festival Saturday.
Lucky numbers, for some. Historical connections for others. Many tried their best to calculate based on how many potatoes were likely in a bag. Others wondered if artificial intelligence could analyze a picture to spit out an accurate figure.
At stake was a chance to win $500 from Nassau Financial Federal Credit Union. The potato mountain, an homage to a tradition that began at the 1937 Riverhead Potato Festival, was one of the highlight attractions for the thousands of people who attended the first day of the free two-day event at Farmingdale State College.
A September nor'easter that pummeled Long Island delayed the potato festival until November but did little to dampen the excitement as a huge turnout filled the grounds to check out two dozen food trucks, a farmers market, vendor fair, a bounce park with slides and obstacles, beer garden for adults and live music. The festival is a celebration of the Island's potato farming history and a region where there was once about 75,000 acres of potato farmland, Newsday previously reported.
The festival resumes Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
From left, Danielle Lanzadoro, of Islip Terrace, Jenna Vassallo, of Massapequa, and Kerrie Sheldrick, of Levittown, enjoyed some spuds at the festival Saturday. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Grace Hedlund, of Northport, submitted an estimate at the potato mountain based on the year 1695, which is when the first European settler in the area purchased land that later became Farmingdale.
She attended with her cousin and friends and said they planned to go in September and were determined to attend once it got postponed.
"I love potatoes and I'm so Irish," she said, adding that her preferred way to eat them is mashed. "There's so many different things you can put in a mashed potato."
The potato-themed food trucks drew the biggest crowds, with lines as many as 70 people deep. At F&J Baked, a loaded-baked-potato food truck based in Manorville, the demand was so great that the operators needed to pause shortly before 2:30 p.m. to restock on items.
"We've gotten hit like this before, but yeah, we didn't expect this much," said owner Jennifer Galan during a brief break from cooking loaded potatoes with mac and cheese, bacon, chicken and other varieties.
She said most of the customers were understanding of the wait.
"The potatoes take a long time to cook, so we try to keep them going," she said.
Christina Kay of WALK 97.5, an event sponsor, wore a Mrs. Potato Head costume as she waited on line for a chip on a stick from The Yum Spot food truck, based in Bohemia.
"I've always wanted to try one," she said, adding that she was also looking forward to finding tater tots.
"Who doesn't love a tater tot, the potatoes on a stick, the loaded potato," she said. "I mean, there's so many ways you can make a potato."
In between musical sets, Paul Hoshyla, whose grandparents bought a farm in East Meadow that is now Hoshyla Farms in Manorville, was interviewed on stage and shared some of the history of the farm.
He was then asked the pressing question..
"I personally like baked potato," he answered. "Maybe put a little onions on it or sour cream or butter."
Joe Werkmeister joined Newsday in 2022 and covers Suffolk County government and politics. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.
