DETROIT — Ask anyone in Detroit where to get the best pierogi in southeast Michigan in mid-August, and the answer is the same.

That’d be Sweetest Heart of Mary Church on Russell Street, of course. 

For four decades, the historic Polish parish’s Pierogi Festival has offered mouth-watering food, traditional dancing and music, reverent liturgies and a small-town community feel. 

Catholics and non-Catholics alike travel miles — sometimes from out of state — to experience the best Polish fare Detroit has to offer. This year’s 40th Annual Pierogi Festival offered a chance for festival-goers to return to the church’s roots.