The annual Sweet Corn Festival is the best Midwestern festival that you need to know about! The festival is dedicated to sweet corn only and is celebrated by distributing a town’s freshly harvested corn.
Who does not enjoy a corn cob? Imagine a sweet corn cob dipped in lots of butter and paprika, spread with drops of lemon juice to add that tingly sour taste to it! Perfect, isn’t it? You are probably craving sweetcorn right now!
If you want to know some surprising facts about the sweet corn festival, scroll away!
History of the Sweetcorn Festival
Festival! This word in itself carries so much excitement and happiness. Every time there is a festival, people look forward to meeting friends, family, food, shopping, relaxing and a lot of enjoyment.
Earlier, when lives used to be a little slow and people were not so busy, they had time for themselves. They had time to be present at the moment and live it to the fullest. Families were more dependent, and people were more connected.
Today, things are a little different. Everybody is busy doing their jobs and earning money. The time one gets to cherish is significantly less. Fewer family gatherings, more periodic reunions, more infrequent outings, and more occasional enjoyment is the new normal.
Understanding all of this, people invented festivals. Festivals are gatherings that allow us to have quality time with people around us. Time just to relax a little from a very tough schedule.
There are festivals everywhere around the world. Who does not like to celebrate? Festivals bring celebration, and people get festivals! Some festivals cherish tradition or culture or festivals that signify a holiday.
There are some very famous festivals where people show up in crazy numbers. Food, games, filming, music, and much more can be found in festivals worldwide. These huge festivals are like an escape. Escape in both ways from the daily routine and also from the places they live.
Who does not know about the Carnival from Brazil, Burning Man in Nevada, La Tomatina from Spain, or Holi from India? These are some fabulous festivals with a crazy party space.
You might be wondering if this article why not speaking about the Sweet Corn Festival?
After reading about the history of festivals, I hope you are excited to read about the sweet corn festival and who knows, you might find the will to attend one too!
Like the name of the article reads, let us promptly dive into some interesting facts about the Midwestern Sweet Corn Festival.
Image source: WikiVisually
24 Facts About Sweet Corn Festival
1) Initiation
The local businessmen of each festival town initiate the sweet corn festival annually.
2) When Is it Celebrated?
The Sweet Corn Festival is a yearly event in the Midwestern region of the United States during the Summer.
3) Where Is it Celebrated?
Sweet Corn Festival is held in West Point-Iowa, SunPrairie, Hoopeston, Mendota, Olathe, Ohio, Florida, Urbana, Chambana, Cedar Rapids, Wisconsin, and Adel. More Midwestern states and cities are added to the roster each year.
Image source: Wikipedia
4) Why Is it Celebrated?
The Sweet Corn Festival is traditionally celebrated to share the corn harvest of the year.
5) Where Was the First Sweet Corn Festival Hosted?
The first-ever Sweet Corn Festival was held in the year 1938 in Hoopeston.
6) How Are Funds Collected?
The local people volunteer the funds for the festival, Not only funds but also management.
7) What Is ‘National Sweetheart Pageant’?
The Sweet Corn Festival also hosts a beauty pageant called “The National Sweetheart Pageant,” formally allowed by the Miss America Pageant.
8) How Many Participants Were Selected For the Miss America Pageant?
There have been eight total participants in the Miss America Pageant selected from the National sweetheart’s pageant.
Image source: Lofthouse
9) How Much Sweet Corn Is Stocked for the Sweet Corn Festival Every Year?
Every year more than 60 tons of sweet corn is given away for the festival.
10) Price
There is no charge for sweet corns. Free unlimited supply of sweetcorn served with a lot of liquid butter and salt or even barbequed.
11) What Is the Sweet Corn Festival All About?
The sweet corn festival is not only about corn. It has so much more to offer., right from jewelry to CDs.
12) Food Stalls
Delicious food is the way to a person’s heart. Keeping this in mind, the festival does not fail in surprising people with its excellent food stalls from barbecued pork – Mexican tacos – sweet corns with loads and loads of butter – Ever amazing chicken popcorn – and not leaving behind the desserts.
Image source: Andypiper License No.: CC BY 2.0
13) Jewelry
The local vendors stall-up their beautiful jewelry pieces. There are different kinds of gems for sale.
14) Games
The game section in the sweet corn festival is flooded right from children to older people. The festival offers Gun balloon shootings, giant wheels, and not forgetting the Electronic games. The game zone is a must-try.
15) Music and Dance
Sweet corn festival is a big hit due to its excellent music concerts and dance performances.
The music is performed at the festival by big industry names, local artists, and high school bands.
16) How Long Is the Sweet Corn Festival?
The festival is hosted for around 3-4 days in past years. Earlier it used to be two days.
17) How Many People Attend the Festival Every Year?
Almost a count of 70000 people attends the sweet corn festival.
18) The Festival Traditions
The festival also has a grand parade which displays history and tradition.
19) What Competitions Are Held?
There are also marathons and walks organized as an event in the sweet corn festival.
20) How Is the Sweet Corn Cooked?
Even though the sweet corn festival started in 1938, it was in the mid-1980s that Steve and Dianna Burden, from Mt. Union, volunteered their vintage steam engine to cook the sweet corn. It is used ever since. It cooks 16 tons of sweet corn at least every year.
21) Can People From Other States Attend?
Not only the local people but also other state people are allowed to set shops at the festival.
Image source: Robert Couse-Baker License No.: CC BY 2.0
22) Can Pets Attend the Festival?
In some places, even pets are allowed at the sweet corn festival.
23) How Is the Waste Managed?
The sweet corn festival follows and promotes green efforts by using recyclable products and composting the corn cobs.
24) When Was the Festival Restarted?
The sweet corn festival was dropped for a few years and then again restarted in 1946.
How Is the Sweet Corn Festival Held?
Surprising, isn’t it? This festival might not be a grand or a large scale event since every place organizes it differently, but it sure has that enjoyment in it.
There is no element that this festival leaves unfinished. From food to shopping to movies, everything is under control only for people to enjoy it.
There are so many “behind the screen” responsibilities that this festival covers. Parking facility, residence, tickets.
All procedures are handled so smoothly. There can’t be any complaints. Parking is kept away from the location so that no disturbance is caused, no traffic jams or queues.
Every local hotel, motel, the lodge is open for the residence facility, as there are vendors and also visitors who come from other states to relish.
Tickets can be booked online. Some states do not charge for entry into the festival. Hygiene is maintained throughout. Waste is taken care of too!
In the year 2020, the sweet corn festival added more ways to reach people. In 2020 the festival was held in creative ways like a drive-through event, a virtual experience, home deliveries, and FM broadcasting.
In Sun Prairie, a drive-through event was held from morning till evening.
In one place, there was a broadcast event on community radio. The radio played jazz music, and rock music session was a roll. There was a stand-up show held too!
The lip-smacking buttery sweet corn was delivered to people from door-to-door at some places.
The St Jude church held the festival very thoughtfully. They collected donations of food, school needs, sanitary needs. All these were donated.
A blood donation drive was held too. Urbana held a virtual event. The local vendors and artists were kept in mind, and then a virtual event was held.
This event showed people where they could buy, eat, shop, play, and enjoy every part of the festival. This way, local businesses were promoted. At the other place, the association decided whatever amount was collected through the drive would be donated to charity for the needy.
Amidst all this, there was a debutant in 202,0 “Belle Fourche.” This place hosted its first-ever sweet corn festival.
They did not miss anything: food, crafts, corn cooking contest, corn eating contest, and many other things.
Image source: Marc-Anthony Macon License No. CC BY-SA 2.0
Reading all this gives only one thing, and that is “Enthusiasm and will is the ke.”. The festival protects the tradition and culture of these places every yea,r and 2020 was no different!
If you ask us, the sweet corn festival has a thumbs up from our side!
It ensures a gala family or friends’ time. A very relaxing getaway for other state people. Outsiders should try it! You all will not regret it!
Last but not least,
If you wish to know more about the sweet corn festival,