Kent Gingerbread Fest: One of CT’s largest, returns for 9th year

One of the largest gingerbread festivals in Connecticut is underway in the quaint town of Kent, and Jill Owens Zinzi, the culinary artisan who started it, is psyched.

Gingerbread creations have popped up in shops and a gallery and may be viewed from outside for social distancing. Visitors are invited to check out the entries and vote for their favorites.

You can also take pictures at festive pop-up scenes, the kind that make it look like your face is on a snowman, or your family is a bunch of evergreens.

Kent’s festival, in its 9th year, goes through December and winners will be announced Jan. 1. Even if you can’t make it in person, you can check it out on Facebook at https://bit.ly/37aftaI

Zinzi is impressed with the concoctions. In a post on the festival’s Facebook page, she said, “OK, now it’s clear to me. There must be a secret gingerbread society section in some of the best engineering schools in America.”

The 2020 entries show you can never dull the holiday spirit in Kent, even in the middle of a pandemic. She shared more, including how she got into gingerbread, via email.

“Seventy years ago, watching my grandmother turn a lump of dough into a gingerbread house was so magical to me. The sweet scent filled the house, as she melted

hard blue candy into a smooth skating pond. From that moment, I was hooked, a devoted gingerbread house fan.

“Christmas just isn’t the same without a gingerbread house to delight the children. Since then, my houses have been in several magazines

and festivals, after which, I donated the totally edible houses to orphanages. To see their eyes light up was worth the month it took to make them.”

Zinzi once donated a gingerbread replica of the Silo Barn, complete with Skitch and Ruth Henderson cookie figures, along with another house to raise money for

New Milford Hospital. She said she started the Gingerbread Festival in Kent because she wanted to share the magic.

“As a member of the Chamber of Commerce, I was always thinking of events to bring tourism,” she said. “The ArtDogs of Kent was my first...” While seeking something new that would be ongoing and appeal to every age, she baked up the gingerbread idea.

The Gingerbread Festival is in Kent Town Center, near 25 North Main St. in Kent. It runs through December, voting is free online and winners are announced Jan. 1. You can learn more at kentctgingerbreadfest.com, by calling 860-592-0061aI

Melissa Roth Cherniske / Contributed photo This entry in the Kent Gingerbread Festival is just as detailed on the inside as it is on the outside. You can get a closer look at Foreign Cargo in Kent. The festival, one of the largest in Connecticut, runs through December.