N.C. Pickle Festival provided much to relish

Pickle juice. Lots and lots of pickle juice. That is what Miranda Welch said she was going to need following her nearly five-hour journey from Bessemer City with two excited 8-year-olds primed for their first N.C. Pickle Festival.

Waiting for the start of Friday night’s Cuke Patch 5K Glow Run, Welch’s daughter Evelyn and her best friend Hannah Tallent giggled and danced around while using their glow wands as swords — showing no signs of tiring after being up since before 7 a.m., attending school and then riding to Mount Olive.

“They are going to run,” Welch said. “I am going to try to keep up.”

Welch added she was hoping it would help burn off some of the girls’ energy.

Asked if they were tired, both squealed “No.”

Welch said she found out about the festival through social media, and it was just the lure of pickles that brought them.

“I am going to be drinking lots of pickle juice,” Welch said. “She (Evelyn) loves pickles so I figured this would be a good mother-daughter trip, and so we just invited her friend to come with us.

“We will be back out here tomorrow and then we are going to hang out at the beach for a day. I think it (festival) is going to be pretty fun. I can’t wait for the festivities, and I really hope they have pickle ice cream.”

Coordinated by the North Carolina Pickle Festival, Inc. in partnership with the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce, the award-winning festival was held in downtown Mount Olive from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, April 26, and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 27.

Steel Country Express got the Friday night festivities off to a rollicking start with a free concert in front of Ribeyes Steakhouse on North Center Street. At one point, festival co-chair Julie Beck joined the band on stage to sing, dance and play air guitar.

Just a few blocks over at the Steele Memorial Library parking lot, the night air was filled with the aroma of cotton candy and other carnival-type foods and was lit by the glow of colorful carnival ride lights.

The rides operated Saturday as well.

Marie Trogdon and Sarah Hyatt and her son, Bryson, 11 months, traveled from Asheboro for the festival and to compete in the Cuke Patch 5K.

They found out about the festival through family who live in the area.

“It is something that we have always wanted to do,” Hyatt said. “I have never done a 5K before, and we have family that live down here near Mount Olive, Seven Springs and the Goldsboro area. We just love the area, and I have always wanted to come to the Pickle Festival.

“So, it is our first time at the Pickle Festival. It is my first 5K and Bryson’s first 5K.”

Both were sporting pickle-themed clothing, and Bryson even had a Cuke Patch T-shirt as he rested in his stroller.

Trogdon, who has competed in other 5Ks, including the Muddy Princess 5K in Charlotte, was sporting a bright green wig complete with lights, a green tutu and shoelaces, both also with lights.

Her getup won her first place in the women’s division of the Cuke Patch 5K costume contest as determined by the vote of the crowd gathered for the event.

“My husband, Jody, and I have always wanted to come,” she said. “I have known about it for years, but had never come — I am usually working. I just decided I was going to take this year and come.

“I am excited. We will probably do more walking than running tonight.”

Trogdon said her co-workers were not surprised when she told them she was going to a pickle festival.

“I love pickles,” she attested.

Her favorite are dills, Trogdon added.

They were planning to return Saturday, particularly for the car show that some of Hyatt’s relatives had entered.

The festival moved into full swing Saturday as tens of thousands of festival-goers shoehorned themselves into downtown for a full day of what is part community festival, part street fair and part family reunion.

Vendors lined both sides of Center Street from College to Pollock streets offering traditional festival foods, arts and crafts and other items.

There were plenty of vendors to choose from — 175, a festival record up by 50 from just two years ago. Vendor response was so overwhelming that festival organizers closed out the application period several weeks ahead of the original deadline.

Banners marked vendors offering pickle-related items including a variety of pickle-flavored food.

Local nonprofits and churches used the festival setting to conduct fundraisers.

A children’s area boasted a petting zoo with goats, a pig, rabbits and a lama. Nearby was the Fresh Start Rescue where the brave could pose with a python resting across their shoulders.

The Chamber booth did a brisk business selling festival-related T-shirts and other items based on the festival’s James Bond theme — an idea that festival co-chairman Julie Beck came up with following her trip to England this past year.

With the James Bond theme, a new License to Dill James Bond-themed costume category was added to Ollie’s Costume Contest.

Ollie Q. Cucumber is the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. mascot.

The Wayne County Cruisers Car Show brought in about 200 color vehicles that lined part of North Center Street, a portion of West John Street and filled the parking lot of the First Baptist Church’s Christian Life Center.

People also were scoring Mt. Olive Pickle Co. merchandise and free Mt. Olive pickles.

For a bird’s-eye-view of the festival, helicopter rides took off from the University of Mount Olive campus.

The festival was free to attend, and while there was a variety of foods and items for sale, festival-goers had plenty to do without having to spend a dime.

That included entertainment spread across four stages, the popular pickle-eating contest and pickle costume contest and, of course, free Mt. Olive pickles.

The 9 a.m. opening ceremony included Mayor Jerome Newton, festival co-chairs Lynn Williams and Julie Beck and N.C. Pickle Festival Lifetime Pickle Princess Blair Sarvis taking the first official pickle bites.

“Welcome to the 38th annual North Carolina Pickle Festival,” Beck said. “We are so excited for this year. It is a big dill, I am just telling you we have got a lot of cool things planned, and we wanted to officially welcome you.

“We know this is going to be a great day — a lot of cool things going on. Four stages of entertainment, carnival rides, helicopter rides and lots of pickle food and, of course, our pickle-eating contest.”

Newton gave the welcome on behalf of the town — the pickle capital of the world, he said.

“It is a beautiful day, and we are expecting it will be a beautiful time,” Newton said. “So, I just want to welcome you here. Enjoy yourselves.

“Have a great time, be safe, and know that Mount Olive is a place to come; a place that we welcome you; and a place that will love you. Again, welcome to the Pickle Festival, enjoy it and have a great time.”

The crowd had begun gathering before the festival’s official 9 a.m. start.

The Chesar family said they enjoyed their second year at the festival.

Addison Chesar, 8, her face sporting a fresh face painting, was munching on a pickle while her sister, Theadora, 8, was getting her face painted.

Addison flashed a thumbs up when asked how her pickle tasted.

Also with them was their younger sister Opal, 2, and 6-month-old brother Erich.

“We found out about it last year,” dad Ted Chesar said. “It is our second year here. We usually leave on Thursday, spend yesterday in the area and we come here for today.”

The family returned because of the fun they had last year, even though it is a nine-hour drive, he said.

“It was a good time — a lot of things going on, the car show, a lot of stuff to do for the kids, good food and a lot of barbecue sauce,” Chesar added.

His wife, Amber, said they enjoy walking around and seeing everything the festival has to offer.

“And enjoying the pickles,” Addison said.

Chesar said they would stick around to about 1 p.m. since by then it would be getting kind of warm for the children.