116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Photos of The Kolach Festival: Keep the kolaches coming!
Every year, members of St. Ludmila Catholic Church and other volunteers make thousands of kolaches, and the cars line up to buy the Czech pastry outside the church at 211 21st Ave. SW in Cedar Rapids. The Kolach Festival on the church grounds features music throughout the weekend, with a car show and a silent auction plus bingo games inside the church social hall. The kolaches are sold from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday - or until they're sold out. The fruit-filled pastries cost $12 per dozen or $6 for a half-dozen, cash or credit. In addition, church members on Sunday will offer a pork and dumpling dinner from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.
Dave Tanberg, Madison Strauss, Pat Stokesberry and Ryan Flaherty deliver kolaches Friday to the long line of cars waiting to buy the Czech pastry at St. Ludmila Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids. Sales run from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, though some early birds are in line as early as 6 a.m. (Hannah Schroeder/The Gazette)
Dorothy Nemecek of Cedar Rapids — known at 'The Kolach Queen' — pauses a minute Friday while making the pastries at St. Ludmila. (Hannah Schroeder/The Gazette)
Judy Amsler scoops cherry filling onto a tray of kolach dough on Friday at St. Ludmila. (Hannah Schroeder/The Gazette)
Members of St. Ludmila Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids prepare cherry and poppy seed kolaches in the early hours of the Friday at the church in southwest Cedar Rapids. This is the 45th year for the annual Kolach Festival. (Hannah Schroeder/The Gazette)
Kolaches covered with cloth — so they stay moist — sit on table in the St. Ludmila Catholic Church basement, awaiting buyers. The annual Kolach Festival continues Saturday and Sunday at the church in southwest Cedar Rapids. (Hannah Schroeder/The Gazette)
Coe College student Karlye Waterman, volunteering for the first time at the Kolach Festival in Cedar Rapids, delivers plates of kolaches Friday to waiting customers at St. Ludmila Catholic Church. (Hannah Schroeder/The Gazette)
Daily Newsletters