Thousands of people are expected to visit Fulmer’s Farmstead in Perry County from Sept. 25-27 for the 38th Mississippi Pecan Festival.
The three-day festival features hundreds of vendors, food, demonstrations and activities across the farmstead. Annual events include the mule pull, talent show and rooster contest.
Lacy Westbrook, a staff member at Fulmer’s Farmstead, said the property changes during the festival.
“It’s really like a bustling kind of community for three days,” Westbrook said.
Westbrook said many of the festival’s craftsmen and artisans prepare six months to a year in advance. Vendors sell handmade items including jellies, leather goods, fishing lures and brooms.
This year’s vendors will also include 3D-printing businesses and a giant-bubble demonstration.
Nearly all of the property will be used for the festival. Fields normally used for growing crops in the spring will become parking areas, and the farmstead’s RV sites are expected to be full.
Westbrook said the festival draws several thousand people over the weekend. Most travel from within 30 minutes to two hours away, although some come from other states.
“We have families who meet here every year like a family reunion,” Westbrook said. “This is how they get together every year.”
The festival began after the Fulmer family bought the property in the early 1980s and continues to highlight practices associated with the farmstead’s past. Two cabins on the property are more than 100 years old, and one demonstration will feature biscuits made by hand and cooked on a wood stove.
“It’s really the nostalgia of it that kind of keeps it going,” Westbrook said.
Admission is $15 per person, per day for ages 5 and older. Children 4 and younger are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased online or with cash at the gate.
