Old-Fashioned Sweet Tooth Sugarcane Festival

Growing sugar cane is an East Texas tradition and part of what makes East Texas history rich, setting the region apart from the rest of the Lone Star State as the last of the Deep South. Sugar cane has been enjoyed by East Texans for many generations, but is also one of the reasons Moses Austin, and later his son Stephen F. Austin, settled in Texas. While in a meeting at San Antonio de Bexar, Moses Austin requested an impresario grant in Spanish Texas, in which he cited several reasons for bringing settlers to Texas. One of his reasons was to grow sugar cane.

Sugar cane was harvested, cut, hauled and pressed in the fall months in East Texas. Not every family could afford to operate their own syrup mill, therefore families would transport their sugarcane to local mills to be pressed. Therefore, making sugar cane syrup became an annual community event.

The city of Nacogdoches has embraced this old East Texas tradition and will celebrate their fourth annual sugarcane event this year. Sugar cane that has been growing on the property all year long will be harvested and pressed using a mid 1800’s, mule powered sugarcane press and then boiled down to make traditional ribbon cane syrup. There will also be live, old-fashioned string music and the chance to make pioneer crafts like whirligigs or corn husk dolls. There will also be a blacksmith on site and tours of the historic Durst-Taylor house will be given throughout the event.

The sugarcane event is free to the public. The Nacogdoches Kiwanis Club will be selling pancakes to go along with the ribbon cane syrup. The proceeds will benefit the Friends of Historic Nacogdoches, Inc. For more information about the sugarcane event call (936)560-4443 or (936)560-5426.