Locally Grown FoodFest

5th Annual Locally Grown FoodFest

Mark your calendars now for the 5th Annual Locally Grown FoodFest on Saturday August 8, 2009 in Washington Park in historic downtown Quincy, IL. Starting at 7 am with the Farmers Market the FoodFest celebrates the importance of local food, farms and businesses in the Tri-State area.

This year will feature an Amateur Chef Competition where area chefs will shop at the farmers market and then have 45 minutes to prepare and dazzle the judges and audience with their culinary talents. Contact Brenda Derrick at derrickb@illinois.edu or 217-223-8380 if you are interested in participating. Click here for contest rules. Click here for the registration form.

A competitive Chore Course for adults will also be a featured new event this year. Teams and individuals will compete to see who is the fastest at completing a variety of traditional farm chores. Pre-registration for this event is required. Click here to register for the individual event. Cick here to register for the team competition.

You can show off your green thumb by entering the annual tomato contest. Prizes will be awarded for the heaviest, sweetest and best dressed tomatoes. You can also submit your salsa made from locally grown tomatoes in the Salsa contest. Prizes will be awarded to the top 3 entries. Click here for more information.

Schedule of events for the day:

7:00 am Quincy Farmer's Market opens

8:00 am FoodFest begins-food booths, kid's activities, and music provided by local musicians

Tomato and salsa contest entries accepted

9:00 am Kiddie tractor pull

10:00 am Watermelon eating and seed spitting contest

10:30 am Amateur chef contest & Tomato and salsa contest judging begins

11:00 am Chore Course-adult team and individual competition-registration required

1:00 pm Tomato and salsa contest winners announced

The FoodFest is a great place to meet and talk to local farmers at the Quincy Farmers Market about their fresh produce and locally-raised meat products. Activities for kids and families, great food, informational booths, fun contests and live entertainment will be available throughout the day. To find out more about the Locally Grown FoodFest call the U of I Extension office at 217-223-8380.

2009 FoodFest Sponsors: County Market, Great River Economic Development Foundation, Western Illinois Sustainable Ag Society, Quincy Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Quincy Park District, WGEM–TV, WQUB, Historic Quincy Business District, Illinois Insitute for Rural Affairs, John Wood Community College and University of Illinois Extension