West Point Sweet Corn Festival

History

The West Point Sweet Corn Festival is an incredible event to witness. If you have never been to the festival, you should definitely consider doing so, especially if you are not orginally from our area. To see the comminity support and assistance that goes into each year's Festival is absolutely magnificent!

The West Point Sweet Corn Festival had a somewhat modest beginning in 1952. Approximately 50 bushel of sweet corn, donated by local farmers, was served after being boiled in a lard pot from our town's locker plant. Along with the sweet corn, steaks - yes, steaks - were prepared on grills made from halves of 55 gallon barrels. Local clubs and organizations set up booths in the park for the two day event.

During the second year, chicken was added to go along with the steaks. The carnival, The Jack Lindle Show "Broadway of the Midwest" was also an addition. The same carnival, now called "Archway Amusements", is still to this day setting up at our festival.

Other changes, and improvements, have occurred through the years. During the fourth year, chicken became the only entree. As the event grew, our community built their own cooker so that more corn could be boiled at a time. In 1975, the Sweet Corn Festival was lengthened to three days. For many years, the Corn Festival included a pancake supper on Thursday evening, a week before the festival was to start. In the 1980s, this was changed to a pancake breakfast on the Sunday before the festival. The pancake breakfast now runs from 8 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. with the help from the local American Legion members.