OK, one of my other blogs got me to thinking.
One of the things I love most about Americana is the way every small town in America has their own festival, something that makes them unique. For instance, Cleo Springs, Oklahoma has an annual "Watermelon Festival", Oshkosh, Wisconsin has its "Sawdust Days" (so named because the city, a former lumber town, used sawdust for fill in much of the formerly swampy downtown area), and so it goes.
But the one that elicited the biggest laugh from me was the town of Butte des Morts ("Hill of the dead"). Every year, they host their annual carp festival. Now what cracks me up is, I can hear the founding fathers discussing what festival they wanted to make their town unique, and some old guy standing up in the back, shouting "We got CARP!". It's a hilarious visual in my mind, but I digress. They serve smoked carp (tolerable), carp chowder (as disgusting as it sounds; it's PINK, for cryin out loud; if I ever want some good fake vomit, all I have to do is pick up some carp chowder at the carpfest), and assorted other delicacies, as well as the usual festival fare.
So, on that note, I would like to open this thread to you. Please describe the oddest town festival tradition you have ever experienced.
signing off,
Gideon MacLeish