Nearby Fun at the Grainger County Tomato Festival July 29-31, 2016! Don’t Miss the Famous Tomato Wars!
If you’re in the Great Smoky Mountains July 29-31, 2016, you’ll want to head over to nearby Rutledge, TN for the 24th Annual Grainger County Tomato Festival and the Famous Tomato Wars! Grainger County tomatoes are well-loved by the locals for their superior sweet, tart flavor and homegrown texture. This fun festival pays homage to the fabulous fruit that we eat like a veggie! The tomatoes from Grainger County, TN have been compared to be the equivalent of the famous onions from Vidalia, Georgia!
At the Grainger County Tomato Festival in Rutledge, TN, not only can you load up your basket with the tastiest tomatoes in the Smoky Mountain region, you’ll also enjoy fresh peaches, wonderful peppers of all kinds, peas, beans, potatoes, onions, beets, berries and more! There’s fried green tomatoes, burgers and sausages, and then the homemade ice cream…oh so good! Go hungry and ready for some good fun in rural East Tennessee!
What Makes Grainger County Tomatoes So Delicious?
It’s the limestone soil that’s mainly responsible for the distinctive and delicious flavor of Grainger County Tomatoes. While the farmers of Grainger County do supply the nation with a superior shipping tomato grown in the county’s 600+ greenhouses, the locals can enjoy the vine-ripened garden varieties also grown by the farmers on approximately 500 acres in Grainger County. The Grainger County Tomato Festival is your opportunity to get the freshest tomatoes and produce that Grainger County farmers have to offer!
Free Admission & Free Parking! And there’s even a Festival Street Dance on Thursday, July 28 beginning at 6:30 p.m. on the grounds of Rutledge Middle School. On Friday at 6:30 pm, be sure to see the 10th Annual Grainger County Opry featuring several bluegrass and gospel music performers from around the region.
Friday, July 29, 2016
12:00 pm – Festival Opens: Living History and Agricultural Show of Antique Tractors
6:30 pm – 10th Annual Grainger County Opry
8:00 pm – Festival Closes for the Day
Saturday, July 30, 2016
7:30 am – Mater Madness 5K Run
9:00 am – Festival Opens: Art & Authors Show and Children’s Activities
9:00 am – Main Stage: The Mason Dixon Boys
10:00 am – The Famous Tomato Festival Wars (behind the Vo-Tech Building)
10:15 am – Reggie Coleman (Main Stage)
11:30 am – The Matthew Hickey Band (Main Stage)
1:30 pm – Shotgun Railroad (Main Stage)
2:15 pm – Mary Kutter (Main Stage)
3:30 pm – Dan Deel (Main Stage)
4:00 pm – Icy Holler and Primitive Quartet (School Gymnasium)
5:00 pm – Wild Blue Yonder (Main Stage)
7:00 pm – Festival Closes for the Day
7:30 pm – Kentucky Headhunters (Football Field – Gates open at 5:30 pm)
Sunday, July 31, 2016
9:30 am – Old Time Country Church Service (Main Stage)
12:00 pm – Festival Opens: Art & Authors Show and Children’s Activities
12:00 pm – Kelly Cordle and Lisa Mitchell (Main Stage)
1:00 pm – Clogging (Dance Stage)
1:15 pm – Reggie Coleman (Main Stage)
2:00 pm – The Famous Tomato Wars (behind the Vo-Tech Building)
2:30 pm – Shotgun Railroad (Main Stage)
3:00 pm – Tomato Festival Beauty Pageant (registration at 2:00 pm)
3:45 pm – Earth by Train (Main Stage)
5:00 pm – Festival Close
Check out the HeySmokies’ Famous Tomato Wars video! Evidently, tomato wars are super popular the world over…so we’re glad to have our very own here in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains at the Grainger County Tomato Festival! Ready, Aim, Squoosh!
The Festival takes place on the grounds of the Rutledge Middle School located at 7480 Rutledge Pike/US Hwy. 11W. The destination is approximately 50 miles from Sevierville, TN and there are a couple of scenic routes you can take to Rutledge. Certainly consult your map/GPS for exact directions. One route from Sevierville is to take US Hwy. 411 North (Dolly Parton Pkwy.) to Chestnut Hill (and make a stop at Bush’s Beans Visitor Center & General Store!) Then take TN 92 through historic Dandridge to Jefferson City and a bit further north to our destination of Rutledge. An alternative, scenic route is from TN Hwy. 66 in Sevierville. From Hwy. 66 take TN 139 along Douglas Lake to Dandridge and then follow directions to Rutledge.
Check out the Grainger County Tomato Festival on Facebook! For more information,
visit www.graingercountytomatofestival.com or call 865-828-3433.
