The countdown to the 40th annual Adel Sweet Corn Festival is officially into single digits, and that sound you hear is the collective watering of mouths for those planning to attend.
This year’s festivities will take place August 9th and 10th in downtown Adel. The event will start on Friday with the Shucking of the Corn. Volunteers are invited to help prepare the seven tons of sweet corn purchased for this year’s Festival by the Adel Partners Chamber of Commerce. The shucking will begin at 5 p.m. in the parking lot at the intersection of 10th and Prairie streets. At 6:30, the Sweet Corn Princess Contest will begin at the Adel Stage and Pavilion. On Saturday the festivities will begin at 8 a.m. with the annual Sweet Corn 5K fun run, sponsored by the Chamber. At 9:30 a.m. the parade down Main Street will start, immediately followed by what everyone comes for in the first place: the free sweet corn.
Adel Chamber Board Vice President Rebecca Hillmer says the line will be long, but promises it’s worth the wait. “Everybody wants to get in line and get their plate full of sweet corn. So yeah, some time around 11 o’clock, we will start serving the corn. That is free, and people just stand in line and get an ear or two of corn! They can take what they can carry in their hand. We don’t want people coming with bags or buckets that they’re going to take home. Because we don’t want to run out for everybody, but you know just kind of use your own judgement.”
Afternoon activities during the Festival will include: a car show around the square; food, craft, and information vendors; inflatables; a concert by the band Suede; and a presentation on the 100th year of Dallas County ISU Extension and Outreach. In the evening, the big event is the Street Party, which this year is open to all ages. The beer garden will open at 6:30 p.m., and the band High South will take the stage from 7:30 – midnight. Hillmer emphasizes that other than the vendors and beer garden, there is no cost for any of the activities.
The Raccoon Valley Radio Big Red Radio will once again be in Adel for both days of the Festival. On Friday we will provide music for the shucking volunteers, and Saturday we will broadcast live, play music on the square, and provide public address services. To learn more about the 2019 Adel Sweet Corn Festival, click the link below to visit the Facebook page. Also be sure to listen to today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program on air and at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.