JACKSONVILLE, Texas — The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors approved to reschedule the 36th Annual Tomato Fest to Saturday, September 19.
"Due to many factors to plan, organize and promote the festival the Board members agreed to move Tomato Fest from June 13 to September 19," the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce said in a statement.
Jacksonville tomatoes will still be the main ingredient of the festival as tomatoes and other produce will continue to be available until the first frost, estimated to be in early November.
One of the factors to select the date of September 19 was due to no football game the night before, allowing vendors and events to set up and be ready for the big day.
"The September 19 date was decided on as the 3rd weekend in September was the previous Tomato Fest time held at the Cherokee County Jr. Livestock many years ago," said Robin Butt the Tomato Fest Chair. "Once the festival grew, it moved downtown and changed to the second Saturday in June, the beginning of tomato season. The festival each year has grown from one block to seven blocks due to popularity of our town’s festival.”
The Tomato Fest is the largest festival in Cherokee County and thanks to the support of the Chamber Board, many volunteers, sponsors and vendors the festival continues to grow. A week long of festivals including the Diced, Family First Dodgeball Tournament, Farm to Table, Chili’s 15th Annual Street Dance and many others events throughout the week are working to reschedule their events and a complete list of Tomato Fest week activities will be announced soon.
The revised vendor application is now available on the Chamber’s website www.JacksonvilleTexas.com/Tomato-Fest and as other events are confirmed, will be added to the Tomato Fest page. For continuous updates follow the Chamber’s Facebook page www.Facebook.com/JacksonvilleChamber and www.Facebook.com/TomatoFestTexas.
