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Pickles are wondrous, salty, majestic little snacks. In just a day, a cucumber can metamorphose into a completely new food with a tangy flavorful punch — all thanks to the magic of vinegar. We even recommend them on cheesesteaks.
In homage to everyone’s favorite briny treat, Philadelphia is celebrating with The Big Dill, also known as the world’s largest pickle party on National Pickle Day this Saturday. What began in 2018 as a Northern Liberties tribute to the humble dill, has grown into a national, multi-city festival.
The Big Dill is not just about eating pickles. People attending the festivities also ride mechanical pickles. They drink pickle milkshakes and sip pickle martinis. They seek wisdom from pickle priests and march in pickle parades. A group of 1,200 attendees is going to try to break the world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as pickles.
Dietitian Niki Toscani is a co-founder of the Fishtown Pickle Project. She said her business would not have started without the Big Dill Festival.
“My husband and I gave pickles out as wedding favors,” she explained. “That happened just a few months before the Big Dill — then it was called Pickledelphia — came to town in 2018.”
The couple signed up to be vendors at the fest. “The only reason why we formalized as a business was because that event required a tax ID,” Toscani said. “So we participated in that event and got interest from a retailer.”
The business has been growing alongside the Big Dill ever since. Toscani is excited to celebrate with Philadelphia’s fellow pickle lovers this Saturday.
“We’ve got several collabs going on at the Big Dill this weekend,” she said. These include a fried pickle egg roll with Madi’s On A Roll, a vodka pickle-rita with Stateside Vodka and a Philly dilly sour beer with Evil Genius. The Fishtown Pickles team is also serving all-natural pickles, which come with different unique flavors, such as hibiscus and bloody mary mix. On top of it all, they will have a pickle fountain.
“We bought this vintage silver beverage fountain, and we throw pickles into it with pickle brine, so that people can really engage and make it fun,” Toscani explained.
Many local vendors are participating in this year’s party, including Delco Dills, Penny Pickles, Philadelphia Pickle Company and Pickle Dude. Jackie McGlynn, head of marketing for Nifty Fifty’s, said the diner has created special pickle milkshakes for the event.
“It started out as an April Fool’s joke,” McGlynn said. “We made a reel for Instagram and TikTok of a pickled milkshake, and then we got a ton of feedback that everyone wanted to try it.”
After the video went viral, Kevin Baxter, co-founder of The Big Dill, reached out asking if the restaurant would like to participate.
“Since then we’ve just been kind of trying to perfect the recipe,” McGlynn said.
The Nifty Fifty’s pickle milkshake is made with ice cream, pickle juice, dill pickle relish and topped with whipped cream and three pickle slices. McGlynn’s gotten good feedback from the drink, which the restaurant has been serving this week.
“Surprisingly, it’s been a huge hit,” McGlynn said. “People at first always are skeptical, like, ‘Oh, I don’t think so.’ And then when they try it, they’re like, ‘Wow, it’s really good.’”
She said she thinks the magic’s all in that salty, sweet combo.
“People just love those flavors,” McGlynn said. “It’s like salted caramel or even like dipping your French fries in your milkshake … We used a tangier dill relish so that it’s not as sweet, so you still get some of the salty flavor mixed in with ice cream.”
If things go well, McGlynn didn’t rule out the possibility of the milkshake becoming a permanent addition to their menu.
The Big Dill is taking place this Saturday, Nov. 14 from 1 to 9 p.m. at Stateside Live! Baxter said he is excited to continue spreading the pickle enthusiasm.
“Over the past couple of years, pickles went from the side of the plate to the top of pop culture, and Pennsylvania sits at the center of it all,” Baxter said in a statement. “Between Picklesburgh in the western part of the state and The Big Dill in the east, no region anywhere celebrates the pickle like we do. When National Pickle Day lands on a Saturday in Philadelphia, our hometown, the state of Pennsylvania can truly call itself the pickle capital of the world.”
As a dietitian, McGlynn said the love for gherkins goes well beyond flavor and nutritional merit.
“I like to geek out,” she said. “I mean, pickling is essentially the first ever method of food preparation and preservation, and every culture found their way to pickles without communicating with one another, which I also think is really cool. I could go on and on.”
