Spam Jam

By: © Nelson Taylor 2008

Festival Location: Austin, MN, USA

Festival State: Minnesota Festivals

Festival Type(s): Food Festivals , Bizarre Festivals

While this isn't quite as fun as Ruby Montana's Spam Carving Contest, Austin hosts a nice family-oriented event every July that also celebrates Spam, in the home of Hormel (maker of Spam) no less. And that means you get to witness the largest collection of Spam lovers ever assembled in the world. Bring out the bombs!

The events are all regular boring festival stuff like softball games, treasure hunts, relay races, fishing contests, plus lots of singing by local artists such as the Spammettes. No event costs more than about $5 to enter and watching is always free.

But most importantly, you can sample some pretty amazing grub for about $2 a pop. Just thinking about the food makes my mouth water: Spam Kabobs, Spam Tostados, Spam Nachos, Spam Spring Rolls, Spam Pizza and the list goes on and on because Spam is America's mystery meat. No one knows what's in it, but damn, it eats good.