Dade City native Cyndi Kirkpatrick still can't believe all the fuss over a tiny fruit.
"I popped these bad babies off the trees growing up," Kirkpatrick said Saturday. "Walking down the road (and) just ate them like they were nothing and now we have a big, huge festival. It's kind of cool."
Kirkpatrick joined thousands of others in downtown Dade City to enjoy the 19th annual Kumquat Festival. The party draws people from all over to celebrate the citrus.
Small like a grape, the kumquat can be eaten whole — peel and all. Many people take the kumquat and transform it into jellies, cookies and pies.
Kumquat pie is the most popular item. Volunteers from the Sacred Heart Childhood Center spent two weeks making 795 pies all for just one day.
"We ... cut all of the kumquats by hand," Cindi O'Quinn said. "We pick the seeds out (and) we puree them."
The pies are served cold, but O'Quinn prefers them frozen.
"It's delicious," she said.
One of the more creative ways to cut a kumquat is to make it into baklava.
Louis Knous spent about a year perfecting her kumquat baklava recipe and it's a big hit every year. She usually sells out within a few hours.
"I only make about 125 pieces," Knous said. "We started around 7 o'clock and I made these fresh the night before, so I was up till 4 o'clock this morning making it."
Knous candies are kumquats and uses kumquat honey in her Greek dessert.
In years past, the festival has drawn around 30,000 people.
Bay News 9 and its parent company Bright House Networks are a sponsor of the festival.
(Amy Mariani, Staff)