Somerville’s marshmallow celebration reached its 21st birthday on Saturday, and the party came with an impressive opening act: roughly 2,000 fluffernutter sandwiches prepared by the city’s high-school musicians. By midafternoon, their supply was nearly gone.
The Boston Globe’s report from Union Square described packed crowds at the Sept. 19 What the Fluff? Festival. Visitors filled the square, Bow Street and part of Somerville Avenue to celebrate Marshmallow Fluff, which confectioner Archibald Query first made in the neighborhood more than a century ago.
At noon, an hour before the festival’s official start, people were already lining up at Honeycomb Creamery for a toasted Fluff ice-cream taco. By 1 p.m., that queue had plenty of company across the festival route.
A sandwich operation with a soundtrack
Students in Somerville High School’s band, orchestra and chorus spent Friday preparing about 2,000 fluffernutters and 500 crisp-rice treats. Their table holds a special place in the festival: the classic peanut-butter-and-marshmallow sandwiches belong to the school music program, while more than 100 other vendors supplied their own Fluff-inspired foods, drinks, art and merchandise.
The result made the student musicians both performers and sandwich logisticians. Their nearly empty buckets by midafternoon offered a sweet measure of the crowd’s enthusiasm.
Elsewhere, artists sold handmade Fluff-themed pieces, friends sampled pumpkin Fluff sandwiches and visitors posed with a festival mascot. The Globe spoke with neighbors returning for another year and travelers from Atlanta who joined the celebration after friends recommended it.
Editorial illustration.
“Legally Fluff” fills the square
The festival’s 21st-year theme was “Legally Fluff: A Toast to Union Square.” In its official festival announcement, the City of Somerville listed Fluff musical chairs, Fluff limbo, a Fluff hair-do contest, live music and more than 100 local vendors among the day’s attractions.
The city also highlighted Angela Hsuan Chen, the 2026 recipient of the festival’s innovation-for-impact award. Chen was recognized for multilingual outreach that helps Spanish-, Mandarin-, Taiwanese- and English-speaking neighbors use the Union Square Farmers Market’s SNAP Match program.
That pairing captured the festival’s personality: playful competitions and sticky treats shared space with local art, student music and practical community work. Turning 21 simply gave Somerville another reason to toast the neighborhood tradition.
Sunday’s dog-game preview
Cleveland has a different community celebration scheduled for Sunday. Rescue Village’s Woofstock is set for Sept. 20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Cleveland Metroparks Polo Field. Its planned dog games include Musical Sit, best smile, best kisser, dog-and-owner look-alike honors and three ice-cream-eating races divided by dog size. A fundraising Ramble, adoptable-dog showcase, animal blessings, music and vendors complete the scheduled lineup.
Tonight around the news network
- Hilarious News follows Denali’s final scheduled sled-dog demonstration of the season, complete with a shuttle plan and Buster Barkley on departure duty.
- Smile News joins a Niobrara River clean-up float that ends with a volunteer potluck.
- Weird News looks back at Julius Neubronner’s early pigeon-carried camera and its pneumatic shutter.
- FunnyNews.lol presents the fictional satire “The Leaf Arrival Committee,” a Sunday comic about giving autumn’s first guest a proper welcome desk.
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