Salem’s Gingerbread Festival expects to attract thousands on Saturday.
There will be marshmallows to roast and crafts to make and take, farm animals to love on and houses to bounce in. There will be festival food to buy and Mr. and Mrs. Santa to snap photos with. But once the kids have run and jumped and snacked, everyone will want to make their way to the front of the Salem Public Library to check out the main event.
Lined up on tables, row after row, will sit dozens of variations on imagination, brought to life in the form of sugar and spice, candy and confection. No matter how raucous the celebration out on the lawn, in the exhibition space, the spectators become hushed by amazement.
For the 13th year, Salem’s Gingerbread Festival showcases frosting and sprinkles and pretzels and licorice and gum drops and peppermints and — most of all — that cardboard-like cake that lends itself so well to creativity.
The houses start arriving early this week. They are displayed in the library soon after they’re delivered.
“I think people are really happy to see them at the library,” says library director Ann Tripp. “They bring joy to people,” she says. “They smell really nice too.”
By Saturday, visitors will find sweet structures of all kinds: replicas of their favorite area icons, fairytale houses, chateaus, towers and mansions. All entries are made only of edibles. Artists as young as elementary-school-aged can submit their work. Only amateurs can compete. Applications for submitting a house can be found online here. Entry deadlines have been extended; they must now be turned in by Dec. 6.
During the festival, anyone can vote on their favorite house for $1 a vote, to determine the People’s Choice Award. Judges designate winners (and cash prizes) in five other categories. The winning houses are auctioned off to raise money for the Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce scholarship fund.
Tripp says some bakers begin planning their houses months in advance. Others are inspired when they see the entries begin to appear on the library tables.
She remembers a woman and her grandson one year that worked for months on their two entries. Each week after she picked up her grandson up from a Lego activity at the library, the two would head to grandma’s house to create.
“It’s just a great family activity,” Tripp says.
But pulling off an impressive entry can be harder than it appears. The Salem library employees have put together a submission for the last several years.
“Our staff has been amazed at how hard these are to create,” Tripp says. “One year, ours was four feet tall. We brought it in here in pieces and assembled it on the table. It was crazy!”
The festival will be held Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Salem Library, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
About the Writer:
Christina Nifong is a writer with a decades-long career profiling interesting people, places and ideas. She’s recently launched a new email newsletter focused on life in the slow lane, called Nourishing Stories. Sign up and find more of her work at christinanifong.com.
