After 26 years of Corn Fest activities in Camp Verde, last year, the town did not hold its traditional farming festival, leaving many Camp Verde residents disappointed to miss the summer fun.
This year, the Camp Verde Parks and Recreation Department is taking over planning and operation of Corn Fest, bringing the event back for its 27th year on Saturday, July 20, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“I know from talking to people of the community that a lot of people were very sad that Corn Fest did not happen last year,” Camp Verde Parks and Recreation Coordinator Shawna Figy said. “We all feel very excited to have it come back this year, to celebrate the agricultural heritage of Camp Verde.”
According to Figy, the town sees its takeover of the annual event as an opportunity to expand the event from just the community center field to taking over all of Hollomon Street in the downtown, including the community center gym, with vendors both outside and inside to avoid the summer heat and the monsoons.
The day will feature 49 different vendors from the area, as of press time, with potentially even more closer to the date. One major change from years past comes as the corn — provided as usual by Hauser & Hauser farms — will be prepared not by volunteers as it usually had been, but by a paid vendor.
According to Figy, this will allow for more corn to be prepared quicker — up to 500 ears per hour — and hope- fully stop people from having to wait for their meal.
In addition to the corn, all the usual attractions and more will be present at the festival — a Farmer’s Market featuring fresh produce, blacksmithing demonstrations by the historical society, a kids activity area with corn hole, face painting and crafts during the afternoon, and non-profit groups such as the Yavapai Rangers and Meals on Wheels raising funds. In addition to the agricultural produce, food trucks will be on site.
Inside the gym, the Cornfest kids stage will feature four bands throughout the day, along with several other cultural and educational activities such as a history of corn by the Verde Valley Archaeological Society and a Yavapai-Apache Nation dance.
“One of our goals is to have the event not be much different than past,” Figy said. “The community has an expectation of what Corn Fest is. People coming to the event won’t notice much difference.”
“I’m so happy that we are picking up our Corn Fest tradition and continuing with eating some of the best sweet corn in the world,” Mayor Charlie German said. “Thanks to Camp Verde Promotions for their years of putting on this event. I want to invite everyone to come and enjoy the fun. Let’s make this a really successful Corn Fest. See you there.”
