This weekend is our local Zucchini Festival. We have lots of arts and crafts booths, a zucchini recipe contest, a zucchini growing contest, a zucchini decorating contest, lots of community support booths, and tons of food booths where many use the zucchini as an ingredient. There is a child friendly area and a vintage car show. Thousands show us for it.
What wacky festivals do you have in your area?????

Here is a link to it.
http://haywardzucchini.org/default.aspx

South Pittsburg, TN Cornbread Festival

James Dean, famous actor we have a car show, museum days, look alike contest for James Dean, we have visitors from all over the world in our small town of Fairmount, Indiana

link if you want to check out the festival

http://www.jamesdeanartifacts.com/cart/

Yum!!!! I love cornbread!! :lol: Just where is South Pittsburg, Tennessee?

Locally we have 'Oyster Festival', Irish Moss Festival, Blueberry Festival, Potato Blossom Festival, ..........guess we're mostly about food!

Here in the mid-Michigan area, we have:

Linwood Pickle Festival
Munger Potato Festival
Caseville's Cheeseburger in Paradise Festival
Bay City St. Stanislaus Polish Festival
Auburn Corn Fest
Bay City's Pig Gig
Bay City Tall Ships Celebration
Freeland Walleye Festival
Saginaw's Greek Festival
Pinconning Cheese Festival
Kawkawlin River Days (I think they still run this one)
Frankenmuth Beer Festival
Frankenmuth's Winter Fest (in January, with snow sculpting and ice carving competitions)
Tuscola County Bean Festival (and, yes, we have a Bean Queen, too!)
Scotch Picnic in Hemlock

Ohhhh, there are soooooooooooo many around here. In fact, I don't think you can swing a dead cat without hitting a festival in this area on any summer weekend!

Not too far from where I live are:

The Broomcorn Festival
The Cheese Festival
The Covered Bridge Festival
The Sweet Corn Festival
The Apple/Pork ....

At the Broomcorn Festival the semi-world famous(okay so it's just in this little corner of the world) Lawn Rangers always perform with their lawn mowers, brooms and weird outfits.

Scotch Picnic in Hemlock?????? that sounds drunkenly poisonous. LOL

Almost on the TN State line between Nashville and Chattanooga.

I've seen this on the food channel or travel channel. In Ohio we have the POPCORN FEST. in Marion, Ohio the first weekend in Sept. I LOVE popcorn

More central Ohio festivals:
Zucchini Festival in Obetz
Tomato Festival in Reynoldsburg
Pumpkin Festival in Circleville (aka Round Town)
Ice Cream Festival in Utica
Sweet Corn Festival in Millersport
Memorial Day Fish Fry in Lithopolis (my dad's home town)

That's all I can think of right now. And look, they're all food!

Oh, how could I forget my very favorite: The Arts Festival, in June, right around my birthday. Lots of gorgeous stuff that I can't afford, and of course, more FOOD.

On the other side of TN we have the famous Ramp Festival in Cosby. What is a Ramp? A very smelly and not too great tasting onion. If you grew up in Cosby they taste marvelous...at least that's their story!
Also, near Pittsburg in Paris,TN,, is the World's Largest Fish Fry!

In Vermilion, OH (right on the shore of Lake Erie) they have the Woolybear Festival in the fall (Oct?).
When we lived there in the 70's and early 80's my kids loved it.
All the local kids would try to find a woolybear (a caterpillar) and race them at the festival. There also is a parade with everyone dressed like woolybears.
And there always was a local (Cleveland) weather man who was the Grand Marshall of the event and he would predict the winter according to the stripes on the caterpillar. Fun.

The zucchini is the most "local" one. Only 4 miles down the road. Nearby we also have Cherry Festival, Artichoke Festival, and of course the granddaddy of them all the Garlic Festival. (that festival has also been on the food network before). I'm not even going to crazy festivals in San Fransisco.

South Pittsburg is about 45 minutes west of Chattanooga, just off I-24, yes, on the line with Alabama

Does anyone know if there's still a Maple Sugar Festival in Elizabethtown, NY? I remember going there once as a kid, and eating pancakes with REAL maple syrup...mmmmmmm!!!

Another good Tennessee festival "Mule Days" in Columbia, TN. It's about 60 miles south of Nashville

Oh yea, can't forget the Moon Pie festival in Bell Buckle, TN. As you can see, Tennesseans love a good festival!!!

I can only think of a few here locally
The Strawberry Festival
The Manatee Festival
Boomtown Days
The Great American Cooter Festival ( cooter is a turtle)

Only in Florida!

SW Ga festivals:

The National Grits Festival - Warwick, Georgia

Whoops.. didn't mean to hit send yet.

Also in SW Ga

"Gnat Days" in Camilla
Mule Day Festival, Calvary GA
Georgia Rattlesnake Roundup - Whigham, GA

Hey I was at the Pumpkin festival in circleville last year! We had a blast!
Some other ones near me are:
Apple Festival~Sidney Oh
Strawberry Festival~troy oh
Pumpkin Festival~Bradford Ohio
Pioneer Days~Piqua Ohio

I Grew up in Hayward. Lived there til 1979. Boy have things Changed.

Watermelon festival in Tompkinsville, KY!

Apple Dumpling Festival seven miles south of us, but I do not dare go as the dumpling and home made icecream would not do my WW any good.

The Pineapple Festival in Yeppoon - about 40 kms away

We have the Popcorn Festival in honor of the late Orville
Redenbacher. Our town is famous for it. LOL Last week there was actually a Jeopardy question about it.

In central PA, the town of Dillsburg has a Pickle Fest in the spring. Now understand, the town is in no way related to dill pickles, but they adopted the dill pickle as a town mascot. The PickleFest is an arts & crafts fair, pickle-eating contest (and there's other food as well) and a 5K pickle chase. http://carrollcitizens.com/PickleFest.html

And on New Year's Eve, when some people are watching the ball drop in Times Square, Dillsburg has its very own Pickle Drop!

It's a nice little town. Gotta love Dillsburg! They actually have a pickle statue...

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In Philadelphia, in the weeks before Christmas, the somewhat historic neighborhood of Chestnut Hill has Stag 'n' Doe Nights once a week. The shops stay open late and often have free samples and demos. The idea is for couples to walk up and down the main drag, eat, shop, and socialize.

I'm surprised that Camilla, GA is the only one with a gnat festival. I grew up in Thomasville, and we had a bunch of those!

The craziest festivals I've ever heard of are both in Colorado. There's the frozen dead guy festival and there's the headless chicken festival.

I think you might win as the craziest. :lol:

Posen Michigan has a Potato Festival
Population 2,042 as of the last census They bring in 10's of thousands of people. Potato king and queen,
Lots of Polish music and food.

A town just North of us has a "Chicken Days". Everything chickens. A "cluck off", "rooster crowing" "chicken costume" etc etc. Best is the Chicken Days quilt show. Lots of chicken quilts.

We have Tater Days here in Brooklyn Park, MN. The whole area used to be potato farms, hence the Tater. There is a parade, a carnival, and a bunch of other "goings-on" for a week in June.

http://www.brooklynpark.org/sitepages/pid91.php

Fire Ant Festival in Marshall Texas - http://www.2camels.com/fire-ant-festival.php

Great Texas Mosquito Festival in Clute Texas - http://www.2camels.com/great-texas-m...o-festival.php

Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater Texas.

Odessaquilts, It sounds wonderful to be in Michigan and be able to attend some of these Festivals. Thanks for sharing. Eiltcoq.

When I lived in Ohio, we had a sauerkraut festival, Pork festival, Bean festival, Strawberry festival, Corn festival, cornbread festival and others I don't remember.

The next festival in my local area is Westfest, a Czech heritage festival, on Labor Day weekend. My boss has been involved with it ever since it started. It's a pretty big deal...polka music, beer, sausages, kolaches, arts & crafts.

Then a couple weeks later is Middlefaire, a small fairly new Renaissance festival. We will have a booth with the candles my daughter makes and my husband will have his leatherwork.

Not really crazy festivals however!

I love those type festivals.

Southern Alabama has it's annual Peanut Festival coming up in the Fall. Miss Peanut, Little Miss Peanut etc. All the local folks (I am a 5 year transplant) love their Boiled Green Peanuts. I've tried them but it seems to me they are definately an acquired taste. The festival has rides, booths and country entertainment so it is fun.