CALDWELL, Texas — In the late 1980s, Caldwell was designated by the state legislature as the Kolache Capital of Texas. There really isn’t a major kolache-centered business in Caldwell right now, though the pastries certainly haven’t disappeared.
“Lissa's downtown has fresh kolaches that are fantastic," said Janice Easter, mayor of Caldwell. "And we also have a place on the other side of town called Nonnie’s bakery. They make delicious kolaches every single day. You can get them every day in Caldwell.”
But, in Caldwell, Kolache Fest wasn't actually born out of any business. Kolache Fest started from local residents’ general love to bake.
"I’ve been to every [Kolache Fest], and about the first three of them we had the elderly [people] that really knew how to bake," said Cynthia Dotson, a lifelong Caldwell resident. "They put out the kolaches. And they would go home and re-bake more if they sold out what they came here with.”
The Czechoslovakian heritage of Caldwell runs deep. Dotson is a fourth-generation Caldwell native, having lived in Caldwell all 71 years of her life with her Czech family.
“My grandparents and my aunt would get together and do quilting," she recalled. "I’d be underneath the quilting square where they were stretching the quilt, and they’d be talking Czech.”
Melissa Brune, owner of Lissa’s Restyled Sip and Shop– a restaurant, bakery, and boutique – makes all her kolaches for Kolache Fest in two small homestyle ovens. She stepped in when past kolache shops closed. And she knows the secret to making these pastries perfect is blending her own tastes with a very traditional recipe.
"As I learned some of those places had closed or changed their location, things like that, I started working on my kolache making," Brune said. "I was blessed by someone from here, a long-time Czech person, shared her recipe.”
Visitors will experience a lot of things at Kolache Fest 2022; a variety of different types of food and music. Traditional kolaches, polka music, and hand-made quilts will blend with the newer features of the event.
Kolache Fest is growing and changing each year. So is Caldwell itself.
"The founding fathers of Caldwell, there's still some here," Mayor Easter said. "But we have lots of great new people here, new families who have discovered what a great place we are.”