Waynesville resident and "sauerkraut volunteer" Ted Moser prepares cabbage for the 31st annual sauerkraut festival. (Dick Swaim photo) | ZOOM |

        WAYNESVILLE - Antiques may be Waynesville's claim to fame, but for one weekend each year, cabbage is king.

        With the advent of its Sauerkraut Festival this Saturday and Sunday, village residents this week are steaming, chopping, pickling and rolling cabbages by the thousands. Sauerkraut will be used to top pizza, add zest to cookies and fudge, and fill pies. Festival vendors know that visitors will sample, then savor, just about any sauerkraut concoction they can come up with.

        Sauerkraut doughnuts are the specialty of the Three Centuries Swim Team, whose 65 members will be making and selling their treats this weekend.

        “The recipe was given to us many years ago by a prominent old family in the community,” said Barb Brannock, who works with the team. “The number of doughnuts we sell varies from year to year, but we always sell enough to support the year's budget. There's a continuous line of people in front of the doughnut booth.”

IF YOU GO

What: Waynesville Sauerkraut Festival     When: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday     Where: Main Street, downtown Waynesville     Parking: Paid parking at School Street and Dayton Road; free shuttle     Information: 897-8855.

        Waynesville went kraut crazy soon after the festival started as a sidewalk sale in 1970. Serving sauerkraut as the event's signature dish was the offhand suggestion of one early organizer, and the idea caught on. It's not unusual for the village population of 2,500 to swell a hundredfold during a Sauerkraut Festival weekend.

        “No matter how many people we get, there's always plenty of room,” said Pamela Allen, executive director of the Waynesville Chamber of Commerce. “People should come hungry and prepared to spend some time.”

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