Downtown Hopkinsville was visited by hundreds of people Saturday for the Hoptown Harvest Festival, which also coincided with the annual chili cook-off.
Although temperatures reached 90 degrees during the day, that didn’t stop people from sampling from 20 different styles of chili cooked by teams on site, some of who arrived that day around 6 a.m. to start cooking. Christian County Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee Director Lindsey Geraci says the event, including all of Salute Week, is about honoring military service men and woman, along with their families.
This year the grand prize winner of $1,000 was the Board of Realtors, with first place taken by Edward Jones, second by U.S. Bank, third to Seafood King and fourth place was Hopkinsville Electric System. The Award for Best theme went to United Southern Bank and the overall grand champion of the Grill Cheese Challenge was Fortera Credit Union.
The Harvest Festival several events happening all at once, including a vintage craft fair at the Farmer’s Market and the Kentucky Bourbon Mashoree. Downtown Renaissance Director Holly Boggess says the turnout was spectacular and they were glad to bring the fun to the people of Hopkinsville.
Live music from a stage set up by Little River filled the air, food trucks were on hand and kid zones ran the whole time, giving everyone something to do. The festivities actually began Thursday night at the Alhambra Theatre with a concert, continued Friday with the Farm to Table Dinner and then wrapped up Saturday night with a day full of community, fun and the Hoptown Half-Marathon and 5K.