2008 Texas Blueberry Festival Coming Soon

The most delicious festival in Texas returns to Nacogdoches the second weekend in June with a daylong celebration of the annual blueberry harvest, featuring live music, farm tours, children’s activities and delicious blueberry fare.

The 19^th annual Texas Blueberry Festival will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 14, in historic downtown Nacogdoches – the Oldest Town in Texas. Admission and parking are free and it is a litter free event.

Start the day off right with a hot, delicious stack of pancakes made with fresh-picked local blueberries. Breakfast is served at 8 a.m. on the downtown square. The Texas Blueberry Marketing Association will also be selling fresh blueberries downtown all day. Free shuttles will provide transportation from the festival to a nearby farm where guests can pick their own blueberries right off the bush.

“Set deep in Texas Forest Country in the Oldest Town in Texas, the Texas Blueberry Festival is a delightful day of the America you still dreamed existed,” said Joe Scifo, the festival’s chairman.

“As the only state-sanctioned blueberry festival in the Lone Star State, this delicious annual event attracts more than 10,000 people to downtown Nacogdoches and offers a smorgasbord of experiences and activities to keep folks entertained all day long.”

Live musical entertainment, including folk, country, jazz, blues and soft rock performances, can be enjoyed all day on three downtown stages. Children’s activities will include make-and-take arts and crafts, an inflatable bounce park and a petting zoo. More than 100 arts, crafts and food vendors will also be on site.

Other attractions will include a 42 tournament, pie-eating contest, pet parade, horse shoes and washers tournament, classic car show, costume contest and ice cream- and cobbler-making competitions. Visit the Cool Zone locations that will allow festival attendees to relax and take a break from the summer heat.

Prime growing conditions make Nacogdoches County one of the leading blueberry producers in the state, and the annual harvest peaks in early summer. Proceeds from the Texas Blueberry Festival benefit the Nacogdoches County Chamber’s various community and business-development programs. Nacogdoches is located approximately 150 miles north of Houston via U.S. Hwy. 59.

For more information about the Texas Blueberry Festival, call the Nacogdoches County Chamber of Commerce at 936-560-5533 or the Nacogdoches Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-OLDEST TOWN. For a complete schedule of events and other festival details, log onto www.TexasBlueberryFestival.com or visit www.Nacogdoches.org.

Photo by Bruce R. Partain