Another Adel Sweet Corn Festival is in the books, and attendance records were broken across the board this year.
The 39th annual event began Friday with the “Shucking of the Corn” and Sweet Corn Princess contest. There were a record 33 participants in the Princess concert, and after each young lady had a chance to be interviewed in front of the crowd, it was Katrina Fuquey’s name that was drawn for the crown. Saturday’s festivities kicked off at 8 a.m. with the 5K fun run, which organizers said had a record 475 participants. At 9:30, the Sweet Corn Parade began, which had been touted as the biggest parade in Dallas County. It lived up to the expectations, with an amount of participation never seen before. The parade was so long, in fact, that many people watching ducked out early to head straight for the sweet corn line.
The free sweet corn was served starting at 11 a.m., and it was once again the biggest draw of the event. All the way until the corn ran out, there was a line stretching several blocks, with people eagerly awaiting their chance to get an ear or two, or six. Other activities throughout the day included: food, craft, art, and information vendors; a car show on Court Street; free kids games, rides, and inflatables; musical performances by Ctrl C and the Chautauqua Road Band at the Stage and Pavilion; and a beer garden featuring a brew called Summer of 39, specially made for Sweet Corn Festival by Firetrucker Brewery in Ankeny.
All the day’s events were organized by the Adel Partners Chamber of Commerce, and Board President Marc Riley was pleased with the record turnout. He attributed the success to the weather and the timing of the event. “The parade, I think, had wonderful turnout. Each side of the street was packed from start to finish, and I think the weather has definitely helped. Obviously being around State Fair (opening) weekend, you know we hoped to get as many people from the Fair to come over to Adel, and I think that’s definitely happened.”
Riley added, while they don’t keep official attendance totals, they estimated there was more than 15,000 people at the event. The Raccoon Valley Radio Big Red Radio was also in attendance for Friday and Saturday. On Friday we played music and provided public address services. We did the same on Saturday, but also broadcasted live throughout the day.
