A Peach Of A Festival

Clarksville celebrates crop and community

The smart ones know to hang around the courthouse around noon today in Clarksville. Because when events such as the peach cobbler baking contest and the jam/jelly contest conclude, there are usually samples to go around.

Those contests are two of many peach- or community-related events taking place in Clarksville this weekend as part of the Johnson County Peach Festival, which debuted in 1938.

FYI

Peach Festival

Schedule

Today

9 a.m. — Craft booths and consession stands open

9 a.m. — Diaper Derby, Courthouse Square

10 a.m. — Arkansas Game & Fish mobile aquarium opens, square

10 a.m. — Bicycle obstacle course, fair grounds

10 a.m. — Helicopter tours, Library

11 a.m. — Skateboard competition, skateboard track

Noon — Peach cobbler bake-off and jam/jelly contest, courthouse

1 p.m. — Peach pie eating contest, courthouse

2 p.m. — Frozen T-shirt contest, square

3 p.m. — Kid’s zone inflatables open, Methodist Church parking love

7 p.m. — Street dance with On the Verge band

Saturday

7 a.m. — 4-mile run/walk, square

7 a.m. — Fishing derby, Cline Park

8 a.m. — Men’s and women’s softball tournament, Vinson Centerpiece

8 a.m. — Car show

9 a.m. — Craft booths and consession stands open

9 a.m. — Arkansas Game & Fish mobile aquarium opens, square

9 a.m. — Greased pig chase, square

10 a.m. — Helicopter tours, library

10 a.m. — Kid’s zone inflatables open, Methodist Church parking love

10 a.m. — Johnson County frog jump, square

11 a.m. — Terrapin Derby, square

Noon — Peach pit spitting contest, square

12:30 p.m. — Peach eating contest, square

1 p.m. — Egg toss, square

1:30 p.m. — Water balloon toss, square

3 p.m. — Cardboat boat regatta, Legion Hut

7 p.m. — Parade, Main Street

7 p.m. — The Diplomats, Clarksville Fine Arts Center

8 p.m. — Dance, square

Sunday

9 a.m. — Horseshoe tournament registration, Cline Park

10 a.m. — Horseshoe tournament, Cline Park

When listing the reasons for attending the festival, Johnson County Peach Festival Association President Alicia Hartley goes straight to the schedule. A series of events continues throughout the weekend, including the cobbler contest, a four-mile run and a fishing derby.

But not all of the events are so pedestrian. Attractions today include a diaper derby crawling contest for those 6 months to 1 year old. There's also a peach pie eating contest and a frozen T-shirt contest, where competitors try to put on a shirt that's a block of ice, having been soaked then frozen. Saturday's events include a greased pig chase, a frog jump, a peach eating contest and a peach pit spitting contest. Johnson County Judge Mike Jacobs is the reigning distance champion, Hartley says.

Another wacky event is the annual Cardboard Regatta, which pits boats made of cardboard and tape -- no nails are allowed -- in a race. Three awards are given in the contest: one for fastest across the creek, another for most creative and a third called the "Titanic" award, given to the cardboard boat that sinks the fastest. And they will sink, Hartley says.

New events this year include a sidewalk chalk contest and a return of the gospel music session, which had been present in previous years but absent in 2013.

Hartley estimates between 5,000 and 10,000 will visit Clarksville for the family-friendly event.

-- Kevin Kinder

kkinder@nwaonline

NAN What's Up on 07/25/2014

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