Factory gone, but Arkansas' Picklefest goes on anyway

ATKINS, Ark. -- The pickle factory may be gone, but the Pickle Fest goes on.

Residents in a place that clings to the moniker Pickle City USA have decided to have the annual Picklefest this coming weekend even though the town's pickle factory shut down last May.

"It's not for the pickle plant, it's for the community," festival chairman Elmo Haney said Monday. "It was never intended to highlight the pickle plant. It's just what we're known for."

The annual festival will feature pickle juice-drinking and pickle-eating contests along with children participating in the Little Miss Sweet Pickle and Little Mr. Dill Pickle pageants.

The only difference is that this year, there won't be tours of the pickle plant, which packed its final jar of dills last May. Dean's Foods, which closed the plant, donated pickles for the eating contests, Haney said.

The festival was named for pickles because it is part of the town's identity and some residents may feel pangs of nostalgia at this year's fest.

"Even when we played football games, they'd call us the Pickle Packers instead of the Red Devils," Haney said.

Also scheduled are rodeos, country music shows and horseshoe-pitching contests. Haney said the festival is about the community, not pickles.

"We don't know how long it will be under this name," Haney said. "We're sure there will always be a festival for us in May, whether it will be Picklefest remains to be seen."

The plant had been the largest employer in Atkins, population 2,878, with 150 to 175 workers, and was the inspiration for an annual pickle festival each spring. It opened with 150 workers in 1946, after local residents raised $17,000 to entice Goldsmith Pickle Co. of Chicago to invest $50,000 in Atkins.