35th annual Gorman Peanut Festival is back

By: Sierra Wells

Multimedia Journalist

On Saturday, Sept. 11, the 35th annual Gorman Peanut Festival will commence in Gorman, Texas. Events will start at 10:00 a.m. with the 5K Color Run of Remembrance and conclude at 8:30 p.m. with a free street dance featuring live music by the Ariel Hutchins Band.

In honor of Patriot Day’s 20th anniversary, this festival will consist of several patriotic-themed events and activities as well.

Lori Dodd, one of the festival coordinators said, “From the very beginning…when we realized those two dates would coincide, we knew right away that it would be very important to our community. We have wonderful first responders and those are the things in our community itself, but we’re a very patriotic community. I would say, so just the idea of being able to properly honor and respect and have some kind of remembrance for 9/11 and all of how it shook our nation and how it changed so many things, that we just wanted to give honor and a time of memory or remembrance to that.”

Alongside the Peanut Festival, the 17th Annual Shin Oak Springs BBQ cook-off begins Friday, Sept. 10 and lasts until the end of Saturday.

There will be games, rides, booths and vendors, which will open at 2:00 p.m. on festival day. Games will consist of dunking booths, face painting, bounce houses and more. There will be various food options such as street tacos, fajitas, gorditas, tamales, funnel cakes, corn cups and fruit cups.

Other events at the festival include the Rocco’s Family Scavenger Hunt, the Goober Gourmet Bakeoff, an art show, Elementary Memorial Performance, a car show, the Little Goober Baby Contest, Cornhole Tournament, the James Tucker Memorial Miniature Golf Classic, a Beard Contest, the Red vs Blue Tug-of-War Competition between the local firemen and policemen as well as a Live Gunfighters Show by River Bottom Renegades.

The winner of the tug-of-war will receive prize money that has been donated to the festival earlier in the day.

According to Dodd, “At 10:00 o’clock in the morning is the 5k Run of Remembrance, so that is donation only, we don’t have a set fee for registration, but everyone makes a donation for that. That is the money we will turn around and give as the winning prize for the fire department or police department who wins the tug-of-war.”

Near the end of the day, a Memorial Musical Piece will play, followed by the beginning of the Patriotic Parade at 5:00 p.m.

This year the Peanut Festival Queen was crowned prior to the festival. The 2021 Festival Queen, Briley Sherman, will be honored during the festival itself, along with the Little Miss Queen, Dallie Seay.

At 7:30 p.m. the Red, White and Boom Firework show will begin at city park, after which the festival will officially end with the street dance.

Dodd said, “I see the festival as pretty laid back. We do have a good crowd there, but it seems to be the one time a year the community will come out and just relax.”

For more information about the Gorman Peanut Festival, visit https://www.facebook.com/GormanPeanutFestival or email GormanPeanutFestival@gmail.com. 

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