Pickled vegetables and pickled foods are trending right now, including this weekend in Kingwood – Houston Public Media

It almost seems like there’s a festival for everything these days, but especially for food. One example of this is the event held in Humble earlier this summer that was entirely dedicated to bacon.

And then there’s Saturday in Kingwood, when fans of the tart, sour taste of pickles get their money’s worth at the fifth annual In a Pickle Festival at Town Center Park.

The event will feature pretty much every kind of cucumber flavor you can imagine—and combinations of cucumber flavor with other foods you may have never thought of…or wish no one else had, like cucumber cupcakes and cucumber ice cream. And there will even be some actually Pickles made both industrially and privately.

One of them is Krystal Wertman, who makes a variety of pickles and jellies for her company, The Jelly Girl. She created the In a Pickle Festival in response to Hurricane Harvey, when many business owners like herself were in a pickle.

She tells Houston is important Producer Michael Hagerty said that while many homes and businesses in the Kingwood area were flooded, they and other vendors at the farmers market suddenly lost business.

“Nobody was coming to the market anymore and the community was in a really depressing state,” Wertman said. “So I tried to find ways we could help all the merchants build their businesses and get the community excited about something.”

She says the first festival attracted 8,000 to 10,000 people and it will now be in its fifth year.

Everything inserted

While there are a variety of activities and performances at the festival, as with any event of this nature, the main attraction is the pickled products to sample and purchase. Wertman says they have “pickled everything,” including pickled pizza, pickled lemonade, pickled cake pops, pickled ice cream, pickled cupcakes, pickled tea, pickled salsa, pickled marshmallows, pickled popcorn, and a variety of pickled vegetables like okra.

And of course there are even pickled cucumbers (also known as real pickles), and the festival features 17 different vendors offering and selling different types of pickles.

Surprising combinations

Wertman says that some of the flavor combinations that might sound a little questionable – like the sweet ones – actually end up being surprisingly good, and that she’s never tasted anything that was just awful.

“When we started this festival, maybe they didn’t immediately think, ‘Hey, I can make a pickle cupcake and it’s going to sell. And it’s going to taste delicious,'” Wertman said. “And so the things that people make with pickles that you would least expect end up being some of my favorites.”

More than just food

But aside from bringing joy to all the cake lovers in attendance, Wertman says another aspect of the event brings her the most joy.

“The best part is when I look around a little later and see that everyone is just having a great time,” she said. “I’ve never seen anyone there who was unhappy. Everyone is walking around with a smile on their face and having a great time with their friends and family. And it’s just so nice to bring so much joy to the community on this day.”

Wertman is expanding the festival to New Braunfels starting in spring 2025.