Pickle Fest

By: © Nelson Taylor 2008

Festival Location: Atkins, AR, USA

Festival State: Arkansas Festivals

Festival Type(s): Food Festivals , Bizarre Festivals

Just in case you're road-tripping through the smoldering South this May and you get a flat in Nowheresville, Arkansas, you've got to hit Picklefest. Atkins, AR, is Pickle City, USA. No joke. This 3,400-person town eats, drinks and breathes pickles. Literally. And with the town's biggest resource being the Dean Pickle & Specialty Products Company, the pickle paves their golden road.

Speaking of dough, Atkins claims they are the inventors of the deep fried pickle. It's one of the many street-delicacies served during the fest, which has attracted some 10,000 tourists since its inception in 1992. "Now that pickle batter is a secret mixture," says Chuck Colflesh, former President of People for a Better Atkins. "If we told anyone what it was, we might have to kill them," he laughs. Chuck, who took time away from watching his afternoon rerun of the sitcom "Empty Nest," just might be the pickle's number one fan. "I love dill pickles," Chuck says. "You can buy one just about anywhere in this town for a quarter."

It gets better. Atkins is also the home of America's only organized pickle juice drinking contest. Can anyone say technicolor yawn? That's right, step on up, pound a jar of nuclear green vinegar and sumptuous spices and then try to hold it down. Chuck admits that he likes pickle juice, but not that much. "No, sir. You get a few every year that turn the same color as the juice," he says, "And sometimes it comes back up."

Not like any loyal resident of Atkins could imagine such heresy, but there's just no shaking the pickle here. Their clothes have even absorbed the smell. Chuck says, "I tell you, when the factory is brewing them pickles, you can smell it for miles." This is the point in the interview where Chuck seems to get a frog (pickle?) in his throat. He pauses. Tears? You can almost hear him thinking. Then he finishes, "You know, it's a pride thing."