For most people, April 5 is just another Monday. In Cleveland, it’s a high holy day.

Dyngus Day is always Easter Monday, the first day of the week after Easter and—importantly—the first weekday after Lent. It’s an Eastern European holiday, with deep roots in Poland. But in some American cities, including Cleveland, Buffalo, and South Bend, Indiana, it’s become about as mainstream as Mardi Gras.

“The day you’re done fasting and doing all that stuff, Dyngus Day is the celebration of that,” says Justin Gorski, better known as DJ Kishka, Grand Marshal of the Dyngus Day festivities in Cleveland. “It’s like a reverse Mardi Gras.”

Dyngus Day is hard to miss in Cleveland. With a parade and a massive street festival, the holiday has grown far beyond the city’s Eastern European community. But you’re forgiven if you’ve never heard of it, even if you’re a born-and-bred Midwesterner. Dyngus Day wasn’t even a big deal for many Clevelanders before Gorski and other enthusiasts organized the first citywide festival in 2011. 500-1,000 people showed up then, he says, and they were thrilled. In 2019, they saw about 45,000.

In Cleveland, Dyngus Day is becoming less distinctively Polish. Some of its old-world trappings survive, including the traditional water fights and whippings with pussy willow branches, but for many, the day is more about polka music, pierogies, and beer. It’s evolving into a broader celebration of all things Eastern European.

“It’s not just a Polish thing,” says Gorski, who is Polish-American. “And especially in Cleveland, we’ve got all sorts of folks that have moved here from Eastern Europe. We’ve got the Slovenian-Style Polka Hall of Fame here, and [polka legend] Frankie Yankovic’s from here. We have a bunch of Eastern Europeans, a whole polka tradition unto itself, that’s from Cleveland. So I try to celebrate all of that.”

This year, the party will be appropriately low-key. “The city of Cleveland has not okayed any public events—and rightfully so,” Gorski says. He still expects to sell out three different sets of Covid-safe polka parties featuring a specially brewed beer (or piwo), a pierogi-eating contest, and the crowning of Miss Dyngus Day.

Gorski isn’t sure why Dyngus Day has been such a success in Cleveland. He suspects it has something to do with the descendants of Eastern European immigration finding joy in the tradition and the kitsch. He should know. His performances as DJ Kishka involve a massive fake beard and his grandfather’s old polka albums.

“It’s just been a grassroots thing. It’s just a local, fun event and just by word of mouth, really,” he says. “It’s just a lot of fun. It can be a little silly. It’s just a good day to just kind of let loose and welcome spring.”

Can’t make it to Dyngus Day?

DJ Kishka recommends the best Polish food Cleveland has to offer.

Best kielbasa and kishka

“I’ve been vegan now for probably ten years, so I’m not the best person to ask. But it was really good at the West Side Market. Just go to the West Side Market.” Gorksi also recommends Jawoski’s Meats in Middleburg Heights and State Meats butcher shop in Parma.

Best paczki

“Rudy’s in Parma. Rudy’s Strudel & Bakery. And then there’s Kiedrowski’s in Amherst.”

Best pierogi

“There’s The Pierogi Lady and there’s Sophie’s Natural. You kind of have to go with them. You can get their stuff at the West Side Market as well. And Rudy’s Strudel & Bakery also makes pierogi.”