Soon, the smells of country ham and the sounds of live music will fill the air in downtown Cadiz, as the 49th Trigg County Ham Festival takes over this weekend.
While the main event starts Friday morning, Thursday morning is the official kick-off event with the annual ham breakfast, where local FFA students will auction off one their country hams they’ve been crafting this year. Cadiz Tourism Executive-Director Beth Sumner says they might have a few tickets left—just give them a call at 270-522-8244.
Then, she says Friday the gates will open at 10 a.m. and there will be over 200 vendors on hand, from arts and crafts to food and carnival rides and everything in between, with a free concert featuring the band Entice on the main stage at 7 p.m.
Sumner says they’ll also have a “Local Lane”, highlighting local vendors.
The fun and festivities continue Saturday morning at 10 a.m., with a Ham and Biscuit eating contest, canoe races, the Trigg County Quilter’s Show at the Janice Mason Art Museum, a petting zoo, a Beard and Mullet Contest, and both days will feature a Broadbent Ham Cooking Demo. Broadbent Hams were the creators of the $10 million that sold at the Kentucky Farm Bureau Auction recently.
Sumner says Saturday is when they’ll have their headline act with country-music artist Bryan White taking the stage at 7:30 p.m.—and it’s totally free to attend.
Parking is available, Sumner says, but be prepared for busy traffic, as they often have anywhere from 20,000 to 45,000 people descend on the small town for the Ham Festival.
Sumner says this all began as a small event almost 50 years ago to highlight and celebrate the community’s agricultural roots, and it’s grown into something truly special.
An absolutely gargantuan ham biscuit will be up for grabs Friday morning about 11 a.m.—the biscuit itself is about 10-feet across. You can find a full schedule of events online at TriggHamfest.com.
The event will start to wrap up on Sunday, with some vendors and carnival rides sticking around until about 5 p.m. Then, after a brief rest, organizers were flow right into planning for their 50th event next year.
