The Dill Behind Pickle Day

At Pickle Day, a vibrant marketplace of contemporary, local restaurants gathered alongside picklers from all over the United States.

Pickle Day was a slice of the city’s history, reminiscent of when the streets of the Lower East Side were lined with pushcarts peddling their goods and wares for sale to a neighborhood of immigrants. It recreated the original market that previously positioned the Lower East Side as ‘The Bargain District.’ A dill-ightful collection of merchants filled Orchard Street with the divine scent of brine offering everything from the simple pickle on a stick, to ice cream churned with dill and garnished with gherkins.

Organized by the Lower East Side Partnership, Pickle Day became a signature annual festival that ran for more than a decade. At its height, it welcomed over 20,000 visitors to Orchard Street, offering a mix of local flavor and national talent. The festival served as a celebration of the area’s past, highlighting the neighborhood’s history as a hub of immigrant life and commerce.

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