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By Carey Reeder | Staff Writer

Chilton County welcomes a new festival to the area in April showcasing another important county staple. The Chilton County Strawberry Festival will be held in Thorsby at Richard H. Wood Memorial Park on April 9 from 10 a.m. until the bands stop playing in the evening around 5:30 p.m.

The festival will bring many different strawberry-themed activities and contests. Around 10 food trucks from across Alabama will be on hand as well as live music by the band Common Ground at 4 p.m. followed by more musical guests.

The Chilton County Industrial Development Authority discovered that Chilton County is number two in the state of Alabama in strawberry growth and Thorsby is the largest city in Alabama per square mile that produces strawberries. It was then that the festival planning was set in motion.

“The more we researched we saw how much strawberries have a significant impact in agriculture in the county,” IDA Executive director Whitney Barlow said. “As we continued to research, we thought the festival would be a great way to spotlight our local farmers and producers.”

The festival is designed to kick off the harvest season for the Chilton County crops that will be coming in during the spring.

An aerial circus will perform at 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., and local FFA and 4-H students will have their animals on display.

The Strawberry Queens will be at the festival as well to help bring awareness to the county’s important resources.

“Their role is to represent Chilton County and agriculture, and what that means to the people here,” Barlow said. “Our goal is to use this festival throughout the year to market our farmers and growers, and what they sell directly to consumers. Not only strawberries, but work with others such as peach and beef farmers to market what all we offer in Chilton County.”

Strawberry farmers and producers around Chilton County will be on hand to showcase their fruit and bring light to the thriving strawberry community in the county.

The Best of Strawberry contests include a dessert contest, best jelly or jam, and an adult and children’s art contest and more.

The dessert contest will be judged in two youth divisions, ages 13-18 and ages 13 and lower. The adult cooking contest will be judged in two different divisions as well, a sweet dessert and a savory dish.

The student art contest will feature four different age groups, and there will be a first, second and third place prize awarded to each age group.

The school with the most submissions in each age group will receive a $100 for art supplies at the school.

“We thought a festival will normally get people’s attention. It has a lot of activities, and in the spring, people are looking for things to do,” Barlow said. “We thought what a great platform to use to get out the word of how important our farmers are to us.”

The adult art contest will have four different categories for voting such as strawberry theme, best of show, business leader’s choice and voting people’s choice. The winners of the strawberry theme and best of show will be awarded $100 and the business leader and people’s choice winners will get $50.

There will also be a strawberry shortcake eating competition at 1 p.m. for ages 13 and up.

“We just want everyone to come out and have a good time,” Barlow said. “There will be so much going on, please come out and enjoy the day.”

For more information, visit www.chiltoncountystrawberryfestival.com for all event times and information.