Scandia celebrates 51st annual Taco Daze festival

The city of Scandia, Minnesota, recently hosted its 51st annual Taco Daze celebration. The tradition originated in 1975 as a Boy Scout fundraiser involving taco sales, but has since evolved into a larger community event managed by the local Lions Club.

In addition to tacos, the festival features a parade, a car show, and the ‘running of the meatballs.’ This specific event involves participants ‘buying’ a meatball—which is actually a golf ball painted brown—for a chance to win money as the balls are raced down a course.

Scandia is a town with deep Scandinavian roots, characterized by local Dala Horse statues, making the taco-themed festival a unique local tradition held the weekend after Labor Day.