Since 1988, the first weekend in June has been a celebration in Little Chute. The Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival is a three-day event that takes place between June 1 and 3 at Doyle Park. The festival is a family event that features music, the Big Cheese parade, cheese tasting, a cheese carving demonstration, a cheesecake contest, a cheese curd eating contest, carnival rides, children’s games and entertainment, the Golden K’s Big Cheese breakfast, and food and refreshments sold by nonprofit organizations.
The Cheese Festival is a celebration of the state’s dairy industry and especially of the area’s cheese producers. In its first year, the festival received national attention for its cheese tasting contest between Wisconsin and New York. It all began when an editorial appeared in a local newspaper which questioned why a national cheese museum was placed in Rome, New York. Wisconsin Senator Chilsen got involved by penning a poem stating that Wisconsin, the Dairy State, should have been the site of the museum, since it made the most and the best cheese.
New York responded by holding an impromptu “cheese off” in New York. New York, of course, declared their cheese the winner, but Wisconsin cheese lovers wouldn’t let it end there. The citizens of Little Chute offered to hold another “cheese off,” this time at the 1st Annual Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival. In the contest, Wisconsin cheese won in all categories, and was dubbed “Best Cheese in the USA.” For more information visit www.littlechutewi.org/calendar_events/cheesefest.html
Report by Chitra Mogul
