Ever since the very first cherry pie was topped with a whipped cream swirl and handed over to a wide-eyed customer, food has been one of the most prominent aspects of Veishea festivities.

Through the decades, events such as Taste of VEISHEA, the International Food Fair and the Midnight Pancake Feed have fueled the week-long celebration with a wide variety of delicious food. Veishea 2006 will be no exception, offering students and community members a weeklong smorgasbord for the taste buds.

At the forefront of this year’s Veishea food lineup is Taste of VEISHEA, a staple of the weekend’s festivities since 1993. Nathaniel Johansen, Veishea entertainment co-chairman and senior in agricultural business, helped coordinate a committee to organize the paramount Veishea food event.

“This year is going to be a great and unique Taste of VEISHEA,” Johansen said.

“We’re going to bring in big-event vendors [such as those from] the Iowa State Fair and set up on the north side of Lake LaVerne to give students a great variety of food for the special occasion.”

Johansen said the committee has been organizing Taste of VEISHEA since November.

“The committee has done a great job planning this, working with student legal affairs, the operations committee, representatives from the Iowa State Fair and the vendors themselves in making sure a Taste of VEISHEA will be a success,” he said.

The event will take place from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday on Union Drive.

“We’re having a Taste of VEISHEA at night because we don’t want to compete with student groups serving food during the day,” Johansen said. “There are a lot of student groups who have put in a lot of hard work, and they deserve being the top priority, since Veishea is by the students, for the students.”

Another traditional food event at Veishea is the International Food Fair, put on by the International Student Council, which takes place Saturday in the Great Hall, Oak Room and Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Ashim Subedee, events coordinator for the International Student Council and sophomore in genetics, has been planning this year’s food fair since last spring.

“[The International Food Fair] is a long tradition at Veishea that gives students and community members a chance to taste food from all around the world, which is a great opportunity since Ames has only a small selection of ethnic restaurants,” he said.

Entry to the fair costs $2 per person or $5 for a family, and tickets for food cost 25 cents. Eighteen student cultural associations will represent five different continents, with cuisine from different countries, such as Nepal, Argentina and Indonesia. Aside from food booths, many organizations will also have cultural displays set up in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

The Midnight Pancake Feed, one of the newest editions to Veishea’s food venue roster, will begin at midnight Friday and run until 4:30 a.m. The event was first held last year with no relation to Veishea, but this year will be included in the Veishea Village that is located on Central Campus. The pancake feed is being sponsored by Veishea and the Student Union Board, and the pancakes will be provided by Chris Cakes pancake catering.

Christina Dvorak, Veishea special events co-chairwoman and junior in advertising, has been responsible for heading up the event.

“The Midnight Pancake Feed is going to be a big event with celebrity pancake flippers, music, eating contests and more,” Dvorak said. “It costs only $1 for all-you-can-eat pancakes from midnight to 4:30 in the morning, so everyone should come eat some pancakes and have a good time.”