JACKSONVILLE — The Jacksonville Tomato Fest will be happening on Saturday June 9. It will happen in downtown Jacksonville and admission is free.
There will be different events every day starting on Monday that will lead to the big festival. For a full list of those events you can visit the city's webpage.
This year local growers say their crops were affected by the harsh winter and heavy rainfall.
Wanda Guinn has been in the business for more than 20 years. Her son grows tomatoes and she sells them.
She said, this year the crops turned over at a faster rate because of the weather.
“It was cold in April and then it got warm in May but they didn’t have that growing time so they just went ahead and ripened, that’s why they’re smaller than what they would be normally,” said Guinn.
Guinn went on to say she doesn’t want the smaller tomatoes to fool people, because they’re still some of the best tasting in the country.
“The acid taste, the color, it’s the ground, the soil that you grow them in," said Guinn. "You can take the same tomato and grow it somewhere else and it’s not going to taste the same.”
Peggy Renfro, the President of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, said the Jacksonville Tomato Fest is not only an opportunity to bring new business to the tomato growers but it’s also a chance to attract tourists.
“It puts visitors in our hotels. Sometimes this is the first time they have been to Jacksonville so we hope that will encourage them to come back,” said Renfro.
Guinn said, those extra tourists translate to more money in her pocket.
“We do see an increase of people in town buying tomatoes,” said Guinn.