Earlier today I asked a question on twitter, I wanted to know if there existed a mashup of something like Kayak’s lovely “Explore” interface and a listing of the random small-town events across the U.S. that I might want to go to. The idea being to get away for a weekend and see something unusual, relatively cheaply.
I found decent website http://www.topeventsusa.com/ and did a quick look through them and turned up this minimally curated list. States that didn’t make the cut were either California (where I live) or only had events that did not trigger any emotional response in me.
(If you have any suggestions from your small hometown, leave ‘em in the comments.)
Alaska
- Feb / March, Fur Redezvous Festival, dog sleddy things and survival games
- March, Iditarod Finish see the end of the race
- April, Alyeska Spring Carnival and Slush Cup slush skiing
Alabama
- April, Mullet Toss, throwing fish over the state border to Florida, on a beach hattip Michael
Arizona
- March, Cowgirl Up!, celebrating women in cowgirl stuff
Arkansas
- May, Magnolia Blossom festival and world championship steak cook-off
- July 27, Heber Springs, Annual World Championship cardboard boat race
Delaware
- September, Amish Country Bike Tour cycling around in amish country
Hawaii
- October, Ironman World Championship, ironman race in hawaii
Idaho
July, Teton Valley Summer Festival, hot air balloons, fiddling competitions,
October, Sun Valley, The Trailing of the Sheep SHEEP POETRY
Illinois
- June, Metropolis, Illinois – Annual Superman Celebration exactly what it sounds like
Indiana
- September, Marshall Country Blueberry Festival fuckin blueberries everywehere, hot air balloons
Iowa
- Late September, Guttenberg Germanfest
- October, Madison County Covered Bridge Festival get romantic up in this
Kansas
- June, Symphony in the Flint Hills
- September, McPherson Scottish Festival
- October (Sept 29), OZtoberfest munchkins from wizard of oz… for some reason
Kentucky
- May, Kentucky Derby
- April, American Quilter’s Society National Quilt Show (Paducah)
- Mid April, Hillbilly Days – shriners dress up as hillbillies
- September, Kentucky Bourbon Festival
- September, Jerusalem Ridge Festival, bluegrass
Massachusetts
- October, Topsfield Fair agricultural fair, pig races, sand sculpture
Michigan
- February, Grumpy old men festival ice fishin
Mississippi
- April, Natchez Spring Pilgrimage colonial dress, historical houses
- June, BB King Homecoming Festival, bb king and a bunch of musicians
- July, Slugburger Festival, festival about a weird burger
Misouri
- June / July, National Tom Sawyer Days do tom sawyer activities (paint fences and mud volleyball)
Nebraska
- July, Wayne Chicken Show chicekn dance, national cluck-off
- August, Nebraska Star Party look at stars and canoes
- August, Kool-Aid Days all things kool-aid
New Hampshire
- June, Fields of Lupine festival, flower bloom festival
- October, Keene Pumpkin Festival jack-o-lanterns, seed spitting contest
New Mexico
- July 4th, UFO Festival ufo people!
- October, International Balloon Fiesta hot air balloons, pretty much the biggest
North Carolina
- April, North Carolina Pickle Festival picklesss
- October, Woolly Worm Festival racing worms up a three foot length of string
Ohio
- August, Twins Day Festival twins everywhere
Oklahoma
- August, Oklahoma State Prison Rodeo, a rodeo featuring prison inmates
- October, Honobia Bigfoor Fall Festival bigfoot themed festival, looks dubious this year
Pennsylvania
- February, Groundhog Day the place, the time
- February, International Chainsaw Carvers Rendezvous, so many chainsaws
South Carolina
- November, Chitlin Strug, food festival for chitlins, includes hawg-callin
Tennessee
- April, Mule Day week long celebration of the mule
Texas
- october/november, Terlingua International Chili Championship, come on, they got chilli.org
Utah
- September, World of Speed, speed trials on the salt flats
Vermont
- June, Annual Strolling of the Heifers Parade & Festival, “100 flower-bedecked bovine beauties”
- October, Dummerston Apple Pie Festival, lots and lots of apple pies
Virginia
- July, Pony Swim and Auction ponies swimming
- August, Old Fiddlers Convention fiddlers, old timey
West Virginia
- February, Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting, taste waters from different counties
- May, Strawberry Festival
Wisconsin
Wyoming
- July, 1838 Mountain Man Redezvous, trappers and traders encampment reenactments
- July / August, Wyoming’s Big Show, everything wyoming has
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