Cowpeas, cannons, crafts and contests at weekend festivals
With heritage festivals, the state fair, crafts fairs, a powwow and kickoff of Oktoberfest in Helen, Ga., there is literally something for everyone among the 14 festivals this coming week.
The lowly black-eyed pea reigns supreme in Charleston, Tenn., this weekend when the International Cowpea Festival takes place Saturday, Sept. 10, in Charleston City Park. Cowpeas are better known as crowder peas or black-eyed peas. Billed as “the harvest festival with the funny name,” the Cowpea Festival is a fun way for small-town Charleston to remind folks it was once the cowpea capital of the United States for the large amount of peas grown and shipped from there.
“This unique festival is a great way to recognize an authentic agri-heritage as well as a protein-rich food that is a big part of our Southern diet,” says Darlene Goins, festival co-chairman.
The highlight of the festival is the Whirlpool Cowpea Cookoff, in which professional chefs will cook their original recipes using a variety of cowpeas from Bush Brothers. Festivalgoers can taste their entries between 2 and 5 p.m. with the purchase of a $5 souvenir spoon, which also allows them to vote on their favorite.
Between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., this street party offers music, storytelling, craft and food vendors, pets and children’s parades before Tayla Lynn, granddaughter of country music legend Loretta Lynn, takes the stage for a free concert from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Bring a folding chair and plan to stay the day.
All proceeds from the festival benefit operation of the Hiwassee River Heritage Center on Highway 11 in Charleston.
A little further north up I-75, the town of Niota, Tenn., is also paying tribute to another Southern food staple. Its Fried Green Tomato Festival on Saturday benefits the upkeep of the 1853 Niota Depot, Tennessee’s oldest standing depot.
The day’s fun kicks off at the depot at 6 a.m. with a $7 pancake/burrito breakfast. There will be a beauty pageant, pet parade, 100 food and craft vendors, tethered hot-air balloon rides for $5 and, of course, a Green Tomato Cook-off at 1 p.m.
Old McDonald’s Farm opens its gates for fall fun on the farm this weekend and will be open each Saturday and Sunday through Oct. 30. The farm is open for school field trips or other large groups Tuesdays through Fridays by appointment.
Old McDonald’s Farm offers little city slickers and their parents the chance to experience country life for a day with hay rides, jumping into corn cribs, a barn full of critters to see, a pumpkin patch, harvest barn and hay maze to visit. There’s a farmers market selling jelly, honey, crafts, fall decorations, pumpkins, T-shirts, farm toys and more to take home a souvenir of your visit.
Older kids and adults will be entertained with the 3.5-acre corn maze, Barnyard 500 pedal tractor race, Farmersgolf, pumpkin slingshot and Old McDonald’s Gem Mine. Stay the day and have lunch at the Calf-A.
All these activities are included in the $12.50 admission for ages 3 and older, with the exception of additional charges for the gem mine ($4.50-$19), cow coaster ($2), Farmersgolf ($4) and pumpkin slingshot ($1).
This Saturday and Sunday, McDonald Farm offers an opening weekend special of $8 per
person. Sept. 17-18 has been designated Heroes Weekend, and all military, first responders, nurses and grandparents/senior adults will receive a discounted admission of $11.
The South rises again on Saturday and Sunday when the Battle of Tunnel Hill reenactment takes place at the historic Clisby-Austin house in Tunnel Hill, Ga.
Tunnel Hill gets its name from the 1,497foot railroad tunnel cut through a mountain in 1849, the first railroad tunnel completed south of the Mason-Dixon Line. In November 1863, the tunnel was the site of a battle in which Union forces led by Gen. William T. Sherman tried unsuccessfully to gain control of the rail line. Sherman later made the Clisby-Austin House his headquarters in 1864.
Boyd Whitfield, president of the Tunnel Hill Historic Preservation Foundation, says reenactors come from around the Southeast to help reenact this battle, with some living historians from as far as Germany and England. Several thousand spectators are expected in tiny Tunnel Hill as well. The battlefield will be open Friday, Sept. 9, from 9 a.m. to noon for school groups’ visits.
The battle reenactment takes place at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, complete with cannons firing, cavalry and artillery units and even reenactors portraying doctors performing mock surgeries in medical tents. Before and after the battles, visitors are invited to visit the camps, sutlers’ tents, and ask questions of the cavalry and artillerymen about their gear.
The $10 price of admission also includes tours of the tunnel and the Clisby-Austin House.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfree press.com or 423-7576284.