The fall semester brings with it the 20th annual Tennessee Soybean Festival.
The Soybean Festival will be held in downtown Martin from Sept 1-8. The festival gives the UTM students a chance to get off campus and relax after the first week of classes has ended.
First begun in 1994, the Soybean Festival has become an annual weeklong celebration full of events such as pageants, tractor-pulls, competitions and performances by well-known musicians. The Soybean Festival boasts of having Tim McGraw as one of the first big names to perform during its festivities.
This year, the festival has a few pre-festival events scheduled. On Thursday, Aug. 29, there will be a Heroes Dinner held for the Martin Police, Tennessee Highway Patrol and the Martin Fire Department at the Pecan Grove Bed and Breakfast at 6 p.m.
The next event on the schedule is the Biodiesel Tractor/Truck Pull on Friday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Martin Recreation Complex. Tickets will be $10, ages 5 and under are free.
The Little Miss Soybean Festival Pageant will be held Saturday Aug. 31. The categories range from ages 0 to 21, and will continue throughout the day, with the first category beginning at 10 a.m. The pageant serves as a preliminary round for the Strawberry Festival Pageant. Tickets for this event will be $5.
Later that day will be the WOW Wrestling event. This will be held at Festival Park at 7 p.m. Tickets will be $10, while ages 5 and under will be free.
On Sunday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. in the Martin Recreation Complex, there will be a performance by a Beatles Tribute Band: The Return, as well as a fireworks display celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Soybean Festival.
There are always a wide variety of musicians who perform at the Soybean Festival. The festival offers a variety of performers from country to classic rock. This year will be no different. Beginning Tuesday and running through Saturday, there will be a free concert every night featuring artists and bands from around the country.
There will be many events held during the week. A Weakley County Farming Photo Exhibit: Past to Present will be held on display every day from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the CE Weldon Library from Monday through Wednesday. An Art Exhibit and Competition will be held Wednesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. – 8p.m.
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, there will be a City-Wide Merchant Sidewalk Sale all day. This sale will involve businesses from around town.
Throughout the week, there will be carnival rides, vendors and games every night from 5 p.m. – midnight, with the exception of Saturday, which will have rides, vendors and games from 10 a.m. – midnight.
On Monday, there will be a Bicycle Rodeo. Registration begins at 3:30 p.m. with the rodeo beginning at 4 p.m. in the Police parking lot. From 3-6 p.m., there will be a Soybean Sidewalk Chalk Art Contest held at the Weldon Public Library.
Also on Monday, the 9th Annual Soybean Festival Talent Contest will be held at 5 p.m. This contest is a preliminary round for the Mid-South Fair Contest. The contest will be located in the Downtown Festival Park.
The Mayor’s Kickoff Luncheon, which is an invitation-only event, will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
The Soybean Festival Parade begins at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Beginning at 8 p.m.in Festival Park, Dustin Lynch will perform the first concert.
Wednesday will get an early start with the Soybean Festival Prayer Breakfast beginning at 6:45 a.m. in the First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall. The speaker at the Prayer Breakfast will be Dr. Tom Rakes, UTM’s chancellor.
Following the Prayer Breakfast, there will be the Crossroads Luncheon: A Celebration of Civic Organizations from noon – 1 p.m. at the UTM Student Life Center.
Beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, there will be three separate events happening simultaneously: a Fitness Class Demonstration by Sideline, a Community Health and Awareness Fair and a Community Dinner and Service Organization Fair.
Wednesday night is Faith and Community Night. Lydia Walker will open the concert at 6 p.m., followed by a performance by The Martins.
Thursday, Sept. 5 will be another early morning with the Farmer’s Breakfast beginning at 6:30 a.m. at Tennessee Tractor. The speaker will be Bill Johnson, CEO of Farm Credit Mid-America.
Following the breakfast, the Soybean Festival Rotary Golf Tournament will be held at 11 a.m. There is a $65 fee for entering; the deadline for entry is Sept. 3. The entry fee covers lunch, a cart, green fee and a chance to win prizes.
The Cancer Crash Car Bash is from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m. on Thursday, as well as Friday from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. – 10 p.m., and Saturday beginning at 4 p.m. The bash events will in downtown Martin.
The CE Weldon Library will be hosting the Friends of the Library Used Book Sale on Thursday from 5 p.m. – closing, on Friday from 9 a.m. – closing and on Saturday from 10 a.m. – closing.
The UTM Percussion Ensemble will be hosting a free concert at 7 p.m. on Thursday. This will be followed by a concert by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus at 9 p.m.
On Friday, Sept. 6, there will be a School Children’s Street Fair from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. in downtown Martin.
Later that evening, there will be a Bluegrass in the Park event featuring Tim May from 4:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. on the Weldon Park Stage. Immediately following that will be the WCMT/Star 95.1 “Singing Bee” at 7 p.m.
That night will be the Survivor concert at 9 p.m. at the Festival Park.
Saturday morning begins with the American Legion Ladies’ Auxiliary Pancake Breakfast from 6:30-10:30 a.m. Also beginning at 6:30 a.m. is the North End Crossing Juke & Junkin’ Fest, which is a community-wide yard sale that will continue all day. This will also include entertainment by local musicians.
The Soybean Festival 5K Road Race/1 Mile Fun Walk begins at 7:30 a.m. for the kid’s run, and 8:15 a.m. for the adult run. The WLJT 2013 Bikers for Books Poker Run is also this morning, with the registration fee being $15 per player.
The 17th Annual Soybean Festival Car and Bike Show begins at 8 a.m., with the awards presentation at 3 p.m. Admission is free for spectators. Also, the 4th Annual Soybean Festival Disc Golf Tournament will begin at 9 a.m. at the Harrison Road Complex.
The 20th Annual Chicken Crazy, Hog Wild Barbecue Cook-off Award Presentation will be at 12:30 p.m., followed by the Soybean Festival Pet Show at 4 p.m.
That night, Sawyer Brown will be performing at 9 p.m. in the Festival Park.
The Soybean Festival ends with a Sunday Brunch hosted by Sodexo on campus. The brunch is from 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Tickets will be $10.35 per person; kids 10 and under are $4.95. However, meal plans can also be used for this brunch.
