30th Annual Tomato Festival

Jacksonville, Texas- It’s “tomato time” in Jacksonville and the annual celebration is slicing up lots of fun at the 30th Annual Tomato Festival on Saturday, June 14. The 30-year tradition celebrates the juicy red fruit and the “Tomato Capital of the World.”

Jacksonville has been producing tomatoes for the commercial market in the State of Texas for 117 years. Throughout the years, Jacksonville has been recognized as one of the outstanding tomato production sections of the nation, with an average of 15,000 acres grown annually.

The Tomato Festival is held on the second Saturday in June each year, just in time to harvest ripe tomatoes. Tonight, Thursday, June 12, the film “Tomato Republic,” will kick off the 30th year of festivities! Based on the town’s mayoral race, the film will air on the big screen at Jackson Cinema III, 1710 S. Jackson St. in Jacksonville.

Tomato Republic Trailer from P+R Productions on Vimeo.

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Read more about the Tomato Republic.

The 2014 Tomato Fest will have something for everyone this year 26 activities planned for Saturday. This year’s festival activities will include a tomato eating contest, tomato peeling contest, salsa cooking contest, a photo contest, tomato mashing contest, a baby crawling contest, a 5K run, Motorcycle, Tractor and Antique Car shows, Farmers Market, Tomato Shed Tours, Tomato Shoot, History Display and live FREE entertainment. Various tournaments, including fishing, soccer and tennis will also be going on this Saturday. A Kids Zone has also been aded to the festival this year.

The final event of the festival is the 9th Annual Chili’s Street Dance at Chili’s, located at 1225 S. Jackson from 7p.m.-10p.m. Entertainment provided by Lad Chazz & The Tramps.

Most of Saturday’s events will take place from 9a.m.-4p.m. in the area of the Tomato Bowl and Norman Activity Center on Commerce Street. Shuttle services will be available for those parking near the overpass.

For more information and a full schedule of events visit:  http://jacksonvilletexas.com/pages/TomatoFest/.