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By Bobbie Whitehead
Blueberry fans will gather at the North Carolina Blueberry Festival Saturday, June 19 in historic downtown Burgaw, located in Pender County.
Designed to highlight the North Carolina blueberry season and crop, the festival enters its seventh year and will feature events such as a 5K run, a car show, live entertainment, a recipe contest, arts and crafts, and many other activities.
Festival events will begin Saturday with a 5K run at 7:30 a.m. and a car show at 9 a.m. The opening ceremony begins at 10 a.m., and the Craig Woolard Band will play from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Other entertainers include Spare Change from 3 to 5 p.m. and The Fantastic Shakers from 6 to 9 p.m.
Blueberry fans will gather at the North Carolina Blueberry Festival Saturday, June 19 in historic downtown Burgaw, located in Pender County.
Designed to highlight the North Carolina blueberry season and crop, the festival enters its seventh year and will feature events such as a 5K run, a car show, live entertainment, a recipe contest, arts and crafts, and many other activities.
Festival events will begin Saturday with a 5K run at 7:30 a.m. and a car show at 9 a.m. The opening ceremony begins at 10 a.m., and the Craig Woolard Band will play from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Other entertainers include Spare Change from 3 to 5 p.m. and The Fantastic Shakers from 6 to 9 p.m.
The North Carolina Blueberry Festival is June 19 in Burgaw, featuring everything blueberry (Photos Courtesy of the North Carolina Blueberry Festival Association).
North Carolina Blueberry Festival in Burgaw is June 19
“The festival pretty much stays the same, though every year it grows,” said Donna Best-Klingel, N.C. Blueberry Festival coordinator. “It’s just a great, grand event. We would not be able to do this without the sponsors, the growers and the supporters of the festival itself.”
North Carolina ranks sixth in the United States for blueberry production with five counties – Pender, Duplin, Sampson, Columbus and Bladen – in the southeastern corner of the state producing the majority of the blueberries, according to the National Agriculture Statistics Service, North Carolina Field Office in Raleigh.
“The first cultivated blueberry production in North Carolina began in the Pender County area in the 1930’s,” according to the N.C. Blueberry Festival Association web site.
In 2008, North Carolina growers produced 28.5 million pounds of blueberries, according to the NASS, with the majority of North Carolina blueberries selling in the fresh market.
Drawing a crowd of 30,000 people, the Blueberry Festival continues to grow, and organizers receive hundreds of applications for vendors, Best-Klingel said. Vendors for arts and crafts, the car show, the recipe contest and other events must apply to participate in the festival, and all categories are juried, she said.
“There are committees for all the areas, and they make the selections,” Best-Klingel said. “We just want to make sure we get the best vendors that represent the festival.”
Some of the money raised for the festival goes toward scholarships for seniors in Bladen, Duplin, New Hanover, Pender and Sampson counties who have been accepted to a two- or four-year college or university. This year, the N.C. Blueberry Festival Association will award $20,000 in scholarships, Best-Klingel said.
“We believe in education for kids,” she said.
Other events scheduled the day before the festival include a blueberry recipe contest on Friday, June 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Also on Friday, barbeque sales will begin at 11 a.m. and continue until sold out, and later that evening, a special, one-time barbeque cook-off will begin at 6 p.m., ending at 11:30 p.m.
To preorder blueberries, customers can visit the Blueberry Hill Farms Inc. web site, http://blueberryhillfarms.webs.com/ or for more information about blueberries or the festival, visit the N.C. Blueberry Festival web site, http://www.ncblueberryfestival.com/.
North Carolina ranks sixth in the United States for blueberry production with five counties – Pender, Duplin, Sampson, Columbus and Bladen – in the southeastern corner of the state producing the majority of the blueberries, according to the National Agriculture Statistics Service, North Carolina Field Office in Raleigh.
“The first cultivated blueberry production in North Carolina began in the Pender County area in the 1930’s,” according to the N.C. Blueberry Festival Association web site.
In 2008, North Carolina growers produced 28.5 million pounds of blueberries, according to the NASS, with the majority of North Carolina blueberries selling in the fresh market.
Drawing a crowd of 30,000 people, the Blueberry Festival continues to grow, and organizers receive hundreds of applications for vendors, Best-Klingel said. Vendors for arts and crafts, the car show, the recipe contest and other events must apply to participate in the festival, and all categories are juried, she said.
“There are committees for all the areas, and they make the selections,” Best-Klingel said. “We just want to make sure we get the best vendors that represent the festival.”
Some of the money raised for the festival goes toward scholarships for seniors in Bladen, Duplin, New Hanover, Pender and Sampson counties who have been accepted to a two- or four-year college or university. This year, the N.C. Blueberry Festival Association will award $20,000 in scholarships, Best-Klingel said.
“We believe in education for kids,” she said.
Other events scheduled the day before the festival include a blueberry recipe contest on Friday, June 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Also on Friday, barbeque sales will begin at 11 a.m. and continue until sold out, and later that evening, a special, one-time barbeque cook-off will begin at 6 p.m., ending at 11:30 p.m.
To preorder blueberries, customers can visit the Blueberry Hill Farms Inc. web site, http://blueberryhillfarms.webs.com/ or for more information about blueberries or the festival, visit the N.C. Blueberry Festival web site, http://www.ncblueberryfestival.com/.
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