By Peter Covino

Entertainment Editor

Marie Antoinette got it all wrong — it was pie she should have told them to eat.

And there will be plenty of pie to go around next weekend as The Great American Pie Festival returns to Celebration for a weekend of pie competitors from around the nation as well as the never-ending pie buffet.

You can eat as much pie as you want at the buffet both Saturday and Sunday at Lakeside Park in downtown Celebration.

This is the ninth year in a row that Celebration has hosted the festival, which is sponsored by Crisco.

Thousands of children will make their own pies at the Crisco Kids Creation Station. There will be pie decorating, pie tin art and many more pie activities. The Pietopia Demonstration Stage sponsored by Village Inn and Bakers Square Restaurants features entertainment and baking demonstration by chefs from across the country. Of course, no pie festival would be complete without a pie eating contest, sponsored by Private Selection.

In addition to all that eating, the annual pie competition – with monetary prizes for winners in various categories as well as bragging rights for commercial bakers – also is taking place.

But the main event, as usual, is the never-ending pie buffet. It’s all you can eat for just $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and children.

The pie buffet features pies of every flavor from Bakers Square Restaurants and Pies, Bonert’s Slice of Pie, California Raisin Marketing Board, J. Horner’s Desserts, Kroger’s Private Selection, Publix Super Markets, Inc., Rocky Mountain Pies, Smucker’s Toppings, The Folger Coffee Company, Village Inn, Wick’s Pies and Winn-Dixie.

Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 24 and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 25.

Last year’s festival attracted more than 25,000 pie lovers who gobbled up 70,000 slices of pie.

There is more information, including pie recipes from previous winners, at www.piecouncil.org, or call 407- 566-2200.

Meanwhile, while you are eating that piece of pie at the festival here are some pie facts to think about, courtesy of the pie council:

• Approximately $700 million in pies (approx. 186 million units) are sold in grocery stores every year. This does not include restaurants, food service or price clubs, only grocery stores. If you lined up the number of pies sold at U.S. grocery stores in one year, they would circle the globe and then some.

• According to a 2008 survey by Crisco and the American Pie Council, nearly one out of five (19 percent) of Americans prefer apple pie, followed by pumpkin (13 percent), pecan (12 percent), banana cream (10 percent) and cherry (9 percent).

• Pie just isn’t for after-dinner dessert. Thirty-five percent of Americans say they’ve had pies for breakfast. Pies as lunch (66 percent) and midnight snacks (59 percent) also have a popular following.

• When asked what dessert Americans would prefer a friend or family member bring to their house for a holiday dinner, pie was the winner with 29 percent. Cake (17 percent) and cookies (15 percent) rounded out the top-three spots.

• Pumpkin pie was first introduced to the holiday table at the pilgrim’s second Thanksgiving in 1623.

• Pie was not always America’s favorite dessert – in the 19th Century, fruit pies were a common breakfast food eaten before the start of a long day.

• According to a 2008 “Pie Slice of Life” Survey, conducted by Schwan’s Consumer Brands North America, Carol Brady, of The Brady Bunch, was picked by 40 percent of survey respondents as the TV mom that would bake the best pie. The Cosby Show’s Claire Huxtable was second with 22 percent, Desperate Housewives’ Bree Van de Camp was third with 16 percent, Everybody Loves Raymond’s Debra Barone was fourth with 13 percent while The Simpsons’ Marge Simpson came in fifth with 8 percent.

The same survey also revealed that when asked “Who Makes the Best Pie?,” Mom rates highly (27 percent), and store bought convenience pie came in a close second with a 26 percent slice of the pie – beating out grandma who garnered 17 percent.