Yes, there's the Jazz Festival this weekend, along with countless barbecues and ice cream socials (if you're lucky), on the schedule. But the event I've been looking forward to for a year now is the Punjabi American Festival. This time last spring, I wrote an article for Edible Sacramento magazine about the incredible ethnic diversity of this area. Did you know that Sutter county has a 10 percent Punjabi population? And that Punjabis have lived in that area since the late 1800s? It's amazing the things you learn when you start asking questions.

The Punjabi American Heritage Society has only been organized since 1993, but apparently Sutter county, especially, has long hosted immigrants from the north of India. Many came here seeking familiar-looking land for agricultural work. They stayed and flourished and helped to build one of the first Sikh temples in the U.S. in Stockton in 1915. There's a fascinating treatise on South Asian Pioneers in California from UC Berkeley that's worth reading.

Anyway, I'll be driving up to the Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds this Sunday, the 27th, to check out the Punjabi festival from 11 a.m. to sunset. Apparently there are lots of dance and music demonstrations, craft booths, food (yep, that's the big draw for me!), and a screening of the documentary "Divided We Fall." On a U.S. tour now, the filmmakers were recently interviewed on CNN. The film deals with the murder of a Punjabi-American after September 11 and "deftly explores race, religion, and what it means to be American in times of national crisis."

Don't miss this great opportunity to learn more about another culture and our own melting pot of a culture while eating well and enjoying the beginning of summer! And if you want a preview, look at the festival newsletter for details and a recipe for Chicken Curry. You have to buy your tickets in advance ($10) by 8 p.m. tomorrow night. See the PAHS site for details.