The BORSCHT BELT FESTIVAL Returns to Ellenville – And Such Large Portions

66a245e28ae24 — Located at 90 Canal St, Ellenville, NY the museum organized the 2nd Annual Borscht Belt Festival 2024

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Amongst sunshine and a jubilant crowd, I was happily transported back to the 1960s and my bungalow colony roots celebrating the beloved Catksills at the 2nd annual Borscht Belt Festival 2024, a 3-day extravaganza from July 26 through 28, organized by Borscht Belt Museum (90 Canal St, Ellenville, NY) that doubled the size of last year’s offerings due to the rousing success of this delicious event.

A seltzer man would make deliveries of these classic bottles – removing the finished ones and offering a new supply. Main bottle colors were clear, blue and green.

More than 30+ events and over 50 food vendors came together for a nostalgically creative weekend of comedy, culture and cuisine. The 3-block long street fair included live music, a babka bake-off and a classic Simon Says contest. Chef Josh Cohen curated a Friday night meal inspired by a 1968 dinner menu from the Waldemere Hotel (Livingston Manor) with dishes like roast Philadelphia caponette and carrot tzimmes. Allen Frishman, Borscht Belt Museum’s Archival Officer, opened his home for a Bagel ‘n Lox Tour of the many defining artifacts he saved from the wreckage of the hotel and bungalow era. Radio icon and Borscht Belt luminary “Cousin Brucie” Morrow gave an inside look at his role in the movie Dirty Dancing, that also received an outdoor screening, plus a performance of The Jackie Mason Musical and lots of great stand-up comedy.

Comedian Bob Greenberg enjoying a bowl of borscht after his super funny set.

“While the Borscht Belt was a huge vacation draw for people from the city and other regions, it had a huge ecosystem of comedy and entertainment that grew alongside all those hotels,” says Andrew Jacobs, President Catskills Borscht Belt Museum Board of Directors. “Standup comedy played a big role in the evolution of humor in America. The festival is an opportunity to celebrate this region’s role in comedy in America. It was the place where almost every famous comic got their start.

Pictured left: Some of the wonderful talent that started in the hotel circuit. Seeing them in the nightclub was big. Back in the day people dressed for a Saturday night show like it was a wedding or Bar Mitzvah!

“We also want to bring attention to the role Jews played from the Shtetl to the Lower East Side to the Catskills. There is so much polarization now and antisemitism is on the rise. This reminds us how diversity is an asset to this nation in our development of popular culture,” continues Jacobs, a New York Times reporter and documentary filmmaker who directed Four Seasons Lodge about a pivotal summer that determined the fate of a bungalow colony co-owned by Holocaust survivors. “It is the museum’s mission to ensure that generations in the future understand the impact this place had on American culture as an incubator of comedy and American leisure.”

Andrew Jacobs, President Catskills Borscht Belt Museum has a vision — and lucky for us!

Highlights of the glorious, nostalgic day included:

Comedian Bob Greenberg hosting Borscht Belt Classics at the Shadowland Studio, giving the sold-out house great guffaws from his act and some Old Jews Telling Jokes favorites.
The best bialy I ever had from Cohen’s Bakery.
Cousins Maine Lobster’s New England clam chowder.
The Borscht Belt Museum’s perfectly curated bungalow that brought back the smell of those summers and my brother.
Seeing a mahjong game… stand still in time.
Getting this summer borscht recipe, that I will happily share.

A typical bungalow, though the moms often bought curtains and throw pillows and made it their own.

The Borscht Belt Museum is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Borscht Belt resort era, and celebrating its history as a refuge from bigotry, the cradle of stand-up comedy and a cultural catalyst that left deep imprints on America. A new exhibit, “And Such Small Portions!” Food and Comedy in the Catskills Resort Era, welcomes visitors now through November.