LOWELL — Last year, Delphina Acha ran out of food in the Cameroonian tent on JFK Plaza, next to City Hall on Arcand Drive. This year, she’s ready to feed festivalgoers some of her specialty dishes such as canda stew and grilled salmon over the entire three-day event.
“JFK Plaza is a busy spot,” she said by phone on Wednesday, as she ran around picking up last-minute items for the festival’s opening on Friday. “Our most popular dish is canda stew, which is cow skin with tomato sauce. People really enjoy that.”
The stew simmers on site in 100-quart pots set on propane burners, which Acha occasionally stirs with a large slotted spoon.
Besides music, the Lowell Folk Festival is known for its variety of food offerings. This year’s tagline is “Food From Around the World,” and some of the vendors include traditional Cameroonian, Liberian, Greek, Filipino, Polish, Brazilian, Jamaican, Burmese, Middle Eastern and Asian food.
This is Acha’s fourth year at the Folk Festival.
“The first two years, I only had a food booth on Saturday and Sunday. Last year was the first time I did it all three days, and I ran out of food!” she said with a laugh. “But this year, I really have it down.”
Her booth is staffed by family members and friends in what she calls an “all-hands-on-deck operation.”
But even before festival visitors can pick up a plate of one of Acha’s signature dishes, a lot of behind-the-scenes prep work takes place.
Acha said she’s been picking up large orders from Restaurant Depot in Andover, but grabs specific spices and ingredients locally from Market Basket. Once the main supplies are on hand, she said the cooking prep begins.
“We prep the fish and other dishes before the festival and grill it on site,” she said.
The money raised from the sale of food from this weekend’s event goes toward Acha’s Foundation Inc., a nonprofit that provides scholarships and care packages to students and wedding gowns to women in underserved communities.
A walk down Arcand Drive toward the river and a hard right on Father Morissette Boulevard takes festival visitors to another food emporium at Boarding House Park.
It’s where the Iskwelahang Pilipino booth has been located for many years, said Myra Liwanag. She is the executive director of the Filipino cultural school based in Bedford.
Like Acha, her group sources many of their ingredients from Restaurant Depot and Market Basket. They also advance prep the hundreds of vegetables that are used in dishes such as pancit guisado (vegetarian sautéed noodles).
“We have to get a head start because the lines can get really long,” Liwanag said. “We slice a lot of vegetables and then we marinate the meat. Everything from that point on is cooked fresh on site.”
In addition to stockpiling ingredients based on past years’ demand, Liwanag said they have organized a volunteer relay system to replenish supplies as needed from Restaurant Depot.
“During the festival, if we’re running low, depending on who’s coming from where to cover their shift at the festival, we might ask them to start at Restaurant Depot and pick up whatever we may need,” she said. “If we’re running low on carrots, for example.”
The IP booth has been run by students, families and alumni over the 36-year lifetime of the festival. Liwanag’s mother also ran the booth, and those years of relationships in the community are passed down not only between families, but suppliers, too.
“Yell-O-Glow does wholesale for restaurants and has donated plantains to us,” she said. “He thinks he remembers my mom since she used to do this.”
Merging the old with the new is what keeps many vendors relevant to Folk Festival visitors. This year, the IP booth has vegetarian and gluten-friendly menu offerings.
And like other nonprofits serving food at the festival, the event is a major fundraiser for the school’s programs and services.
“We’re going to hit the ground running for Friday,” Liwanag said. “It’s a thing that keeps our doors open.”
For more about the Lowell Folk Festival’s food offerings, including menus for each vendor, visit lowellfolkfestival.org/pages/food-from-around-the-world.
For a complete schedule including music, artists and crafts, visit lowellfolkfestival.org/pages/2023-schedule, or check the Lowell Folk Festival special section in Thursday’s edition of The Sun.