79th West Tennessee Strawberry Festival begins

JACKSON, Tenn.—A beloved West Tennessee tradition started Sunday drawing people out to enjoy one of their favorite parts of this 79-year-old festival.

There’s a constant line outside a little white truck off of 22nd and Main in Humboldt, the smell of Louisiana fills the air.

“Everybody is super nice and they thank us for coming and thank us for being here, just a great place,” Big Drew Johnson said. He ad his wife have been coming to the West Tennessee Strawberry Festival for the past 13 years, bringing a taste of their Louisiana home with them. “The food is authentic so, and its just her and I, and we stay consistent with our recipes and that is one of the big things in the food business.”

Festival veterans said they make their way here for their famous fair feast, their chicken on a stick.

“It’s a family tradition, every year a big group of us comes out on Wednesday and we eat our way down Main Street as we call it and we always start here every year the chicken on a stick is the absolute best,” Lori Coleman said as she waited in line. She said she has been going to the festival her entire life.

“We do probably 1,200 to 1,500 pounds of chicken,” Johnson said. He said they will cook around 300 pounds of shrimp this week as well.

But it’s not just the food that draws West Tennesseans to this festival, it’s the heart of Humboldt.

“It’s a good sense of community, it shows you what the heart of Humboldt is all about we care about each other and we want each other to have fun, and it’s a good safe place to come, it’s just all about that sense of community pride,” Coleman said.