Fat Tuesday: Philly Residents Flock To Holmesburg Bakery To Grab Delicious Fastnachts
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's Fat Tuesday and down in the Big Easy, the good times are rolling. It's the first time celebrations are allowed on Bourbon Street in New Orleans since the pandemic began.
But in Pennsylvania, people celebrate "Fastnacht Day."
Taste and tradition bring folks out to Holmesburg Bakery in Northeast Philadelphia as early as 6:30 a.m. just so they can get a taste of a delicious fastnacht. Every year on this day-long lines form outside of the bakery located at 7935 Frankford Avenue.
"It depends on who wants to get up early and who wants to get up late," Denise Popowcer said. "You just want to make sure you get your donuts for the day."
But they're not just any donuts. These folks are ready to feast on fastnachts.
"I don't know if it's softer or sweeter, but maybe it's just the day, you know?" Lisa Weber said.
Tammy Schuler said they're better than regular doughnuts.
Fastnacht are squares, not circles, and it's not just shape that makes a fastnacht different than a traditional donut.
"It's a little richer than a regular donut," George Gouger, the former owner of Holmesburg Bakery, said. "It's got a little more egg,"
Gouger owned the bakery for 47 years and says fastnacht day is a Philly favorite.
"It's this way every year," Gourger said. "They line up all the way down the block here."
What's more important than the pastries themselves is passing along this Pennsylvania Dutch tradition.
"As long as we're here, we'll do it," Gouger said.
"Things are changing a lot in the world," Weber said. "If you get one good day that makes you happy and you get to see certain people you haven't seen in a while, it just brings you back to where you used to be."
The staff in the back were simply too busy to be able to talk to CBS3 about the process of making these fastnachts but they estimate they'll make at least 1,000 dozens of them Tuesday to keep the neighborhood happy.