Pickles. © CooksInfo / 2016
International Pickle Week is a 10-day long promotional period held in the U.S. each year, usually in May.
It spans the American Memorial Day weekend, which is the start to summer in the US.
The exact dates change every year.
The dates are set by Pickle Packers International, a trade association for the American pickle industry headquartered in Washington, DC
Various promotional activities are held. The town of Atkins, Arkansas, holds a World Champion Pickle Juice Drinking Contest during this week; other places hold Pickle Eating Contests.
There are also educational sessions such as how to cook with pickles and pickle juice.
Want to make your own pickles? See our advice over on Healthy Canning’s pickle page.
#InternationalPickleWeek
See also: Pickles
History Notes
International Pickle Week was started in 1948 by Pickle Packers International.
There were located first in what is now the Chicago metropolitan area — Oak Brook, DuPage County, then in the mid-1960s they were in St. Charles, Kane County. Illinois. In January 2005, they moved their headquarters to Washington, D.C..
Sources
Haase, Roald. Move leaves St. Charles in a pickle. Geneva, Illinois: Kane County Chronicle. 28 January 2005.