Dublin, North Carolina is often called the ‘Peanut Capital Of The South’. The popular Houston’s Peanuts, which are shipped worldwide, also calls Dublin home. The Dublin Peanut Festival helps celebrate the town’s unique qualities and agricultural heritage each year.
The event planning first started in 1992 when the town needed a way to raise funds to build a gymnasium for Dublin Elementary School. The first Peanut Festival was held in September of 1993 and became an annual tradition for many.
In 2013, the General Assembly adopted the Dublin Peanut Festival as the State Official Peanut Festival (Session Laws, 2013-313). The bill to select the Dublin Peanut Festival as the official State Peanut Festival was introduced by Rep. Bill Brisson of Bladen County. Met with little opposition, and was passed in the House of Representatives with a vote of 117 to 0, according to the festival’s website.
The event is held on the third Saturday of September and kicks off with a parade. This year’s festival date is September 21st, 2019.
The reigning Peanut Festival Queen, Miss Hailey Elizabeth Hudson has been seen all around promoting the festival. For many years, the Dublin Peanut Festival Scholarship Pageant has been committed to recognizing and celebrating the educational achievements of young women, by granting a scholastic scholarship in the amount of $1,500 to the reigning Queen, according to the website.
The Dublin Scholarship Pageant will be held on Saturday, September 14th, 2019 at 7 o’ clock in the evening at Dublin Elementary School Multipurpose Building, 7048 Albert St. in Dublin.
Then on Saturday, September 21, the festival parade will start at 10 a.m. with the Classic Cruisers Car Show lined up to watch the festivities in the parking lot of Dublin Elementary School. Some of North Carolina’s Best Country Food Cooking Vendors, Craft Vendors, All Day Live Entertainment, Children and Teen Rides, and Games will also be held on the school’s grounds.
“We will be selling hot boiled peanuts on site along with our cold boiled, salted in the shell, roasted and green peanuts,” the festival site highlights. Also, the festival organizers noted the Peanut Festival T-Shirt design is drawn by Early High School students at Bladen Community College and the Scholarship Pageant will take place earlier in the month of September.
To find out more visit the festival’s website, https://www.dublinpeanutfestival.com/ or speak with a committee member. The committee members are listed as: Chairman – Richard Sibbett, Co-Chairman – Christy Dowless, Secretary – Bonnie McDaniel, Treasurer – Horace Wyatt, Advertisement – Jade Carter, Car Show – Wayne Dove, Crafts – Judy and Christy Dowless, Entertainment – Tracy Smith and Mary Bell, Misc. – Rodney Smith and Scott Bell, Pageant – Penny Britt, Parade – Dublin Fire Department, Set Up/Tear Down – Rodney Smith and Scott Bell, Scholarship – Vicki Sibbett, Sponsors – Thelma Robeson, Website/Facebook – Jonathan Edwards and Eric Whicker.
Related articles:
https://bladencounty.org/miss-dublin-peanut-festival-crowned/
https://bladencounty.org/dublin-peanut-festival-sees-fun-filled-day/
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