National Cornbread Festival Celebrates a Tennessee Town

The allure of cornbread crackling in a cast-iron skillet is reality at the National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, during the last full weekend of April.

The town of 3,000 people, located half an hour west of Chattanooga, swells to over 20,000 over two days, with visitors eager to have fun while working up an appetite for cornbread.

“Since its founding 150 years ago, South Pittsburg has always been very social. People think of all kinds of reasons to come together. Whether to aid one another, celebrate, or accomplish a challenging task, getting together is just natural,” said Beth Duggar, the National Cornbread Festival president.

In 1996, a new couple who had just moved to town attended a party and mentioned how happy they were in their new community. They kept saying South Pittsburg was a ‘hidden gem’ and that it should be showcased. In the town, though, ran an undercurrent of worry about the new four-lane highway bypassing the town, and the expected loss of sales tax revenue.

As that party continued, the ‘idea’ of a festival was born. Since South Pittsburg is the home of Lodge Cast Iron, and cast iron is cornbread’s best friend, it makes sense that the idea was parlayed into the first National Cornbread Festival in 1997, Duggar said.

It has since become one of the largest food festivals in the Southeast, and has raised more than $1.4 million to date for community improvement projects, including new athletic facilities, building restorations and programs for local theaters and libraries. Lodge Cast Iron plays a significant role in the non-profit festival, sponsoring various activities and supplying meal for the cornbread.

Running the yearly endeavor takes help from over 350 community groups, including youth sports teams, neighborhood organizations, scouts, churches, and employees of Lodge Cast Iron.

”Our volunteers are the heart of our festival, and we could not put on this great event without them,” Lodge Cast Iron Product Marketing Manager (and National Cornbread Festival Marketing Chair) Amy Pilgrim said. Planning the next festival begins after the prior one is complete. However, the beginning of April is when the excitement of showcasing the town and months of preparations cumulate in what locals call Cornbread time in Tennessee. During this period, citizens spruce up South Pittsburg for “Sparkle Day” at the beginning of the month by freshening up the landscape and giving the town a fresh coat of paint. Volunteers hang decorations one week before opening day while local artists paint the store windows with cornbread-themed murals.

Several events associated with the festival build up to the opening day. The Miss Cornbread Pageant, held at the town’s historic Princess Theater, allows different age groups, from a Baby Miss Cornbread for two to three-year-olds to the National Cornbread Queen for girls between 16 and 18 years of age, a shot at being a spokesperson for South Pittsburg’s biggest draw. “The queens from each age group represent the Cornbread Festival not only at the festival itself but at many events throughout the year,” Pilgrim said. Also, before opening day, the carnival comes to town with rides and games that last through the end of the Festival.

The official opening ceremonies occur on Friday night with a fireworks display and a live outdoor street dance with music by local artists. On Saturday morning, the National Cornbread Festival 5K Run gives participants of all skill levels a chance at winning a mini cast iron skillet medal. Then the gates open at 9 a.m. on four blocks of fun activities in an atmosphere that balances excitement and a laid-back pace.

Throughout the two-day festival, the town is filled with music from more than 20 local and national acts. Past artists at the National Cornbread Festival include Dillon Carmichael, the Kentucky Headhunters, and Bluegrass Superstar Ricky Skaggs, who appeared in 2017. Various street performers, including a clown named Antique Jack, who has performed at every National Cornbread Festival and describes the yearly gig as “one of the best ones I’ve ever done.”

Those in a competitive mood can participate in a high-energy but fun cornbread-eating and buttermilk-chugging contest, or enjoy the more relaxing scavenger hunt around the festival grounds. Little ones can burn off energy in the kid’s area with activities including bouncy slides, crafts, and a super-size Jenga. Meanwhile, older visitors can enjoy a step back in time with educational demonstrations, including a blacksmith, antique tractors for farming, and an old-fashioned gristmill making cornmeal. The festival also features handmade products from over 100 arts and crafts vendors, including jewelry, pottery and baked goods.

For a fee, history buffs can take a bus around South Pittsburg with a historical tour of the town. The route, which changes yearly, features residences, civic buildings, and churches of historical significance, and, as Pilgrim proudly declares, “it is an honor to have your home or church selected for the tour.” Homes featured on past tours include the residents of Lodge Manufacturing’s founder, Joseph Lodge, and Judge John T. Raulston, who presided over the infamous Scopes Monkey Trail.

Want to know how Lodge makes their famous cast iron cooking products? Tours of the Lodge Foundry, which is only open to the public during the festival, are available along with the Lodge Museum of Cast Iron, which is open year-round with interactive exhibits and the World’s Largest Cast Iron Skillet, weighing an astonishing 14,360 pounds. On Sunday morning, before the gates open again at 9 a.m., a mass participation cycling event—a Fondo race—winds through the hills of the Sequatchie Valley. At the same time, an inter-denominational church worship service radiates throughout the festival grounds and the South Pittsburg Rotary Club serves a pancake breakfast to benefit worthwhile projects.

Of course, cornbread is the biggest star of the weekend, and the festival offered several different ways to sample the delicacy. Several vendors offer cornbread, including Miss Patsy’s Cornbread Salad, a popular dish created by a local banker involving cornbread combined with onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, bacon, mayonnaise, and a secret ingredient, which Pilgrim said: “remain known to only Patsy.”

In 2023, Lodge Cast Iron debuted four new cornbread mixes at the festival for cooking in cast iron. The flavors include Sweet Spot, True Southern (a buttery flavored blend), Sweet as Honey (a honey/butter cornbread mix), and Hot Shot Jalapeño for a spicy kick. The cast-iron mixes will be back for sampling at this year’s festival and are available year-round at The Lodge Cast Iron outlet store in South Pittsburg, on Lodge’s website, lodgecastiron.com, and at retailers nationwide.

Another way to sample delicious cornbread is at the free fritter tents, which feature silver dollar-sized pieces cooked quickly on pancake griddles and using one or two ingredients. “We use a ‘mix with water’ recipe to avoid adding milk or eggs,” Duggar said. Free fritter tents have been staffed by the local utility company workers offering salsa cornbread that has a nice spicy kick without too much heat, or the local high school robotics team, serving apple pie cornbread with a perfect combination of apple, cinnamon and sugar.

The most popular sampling spot is often Cornbread Alley, where, for a fee, patrons can grab a plate and taste nine mouthwatering chunks of cornbread from recipes of South Pittsburg’s most prominent civic organizations.

“The alley is for larger groups with more volunteers because it’s more demanding than the fritter tents,” Duggar said. Recipes at Cornbread Alley often include a theme around having vegetables, meats, or fruit, including past favorites like broccoli and cheese, a sau-cheesy cornbread with a savory combo of sausage and cheese, and the fruity Sweet Georgia Peach. Donations placed in each participant’s bucket determine the winning recipe for Cornbread Alley.

While some people at the festival cook cornbread for pure enjoyment, others cook it for a chance at fame and recognition. The National Cornbread Cookoff, held on Saturday afternoon, features ten of the best recipes out of hundreds of submissions. None of the cooks in the contest received formal training at a culinary school, nor worked as professional chefs. The finalists have one hour to cook a cornbread-based main dish, which in 2023 included cornbread-ricotta gnocchi and fried cornbread green tomatoes, using Lodge Cast Iron cookware for judging and top prizes. Last year’s contestants came from as far away as Washington State and Connecticut.

Judges range from professional chefs and bakers to food critics, using a point system based on taste, creativity, preparation and visual appeal. The winner receives a cash prize of $5,000, a 30-inch Five Star stainless steel gas range, and additional gifts from Lodge Cast Iron. “The cookoff is high stakes but a lot of fun,” Pilgrim said. On Sunday afternoon, the 4-H Cookoff involves fourth to sixth graders for a chance at a $500 first prize for the best cornbread recipe.

Last year’s Cornbread Cookoff first place prize went to Robert Rossi from Independence, Louisiana, for his Cajun Corn Poutine. Meanwhile, Mount Bethlehem Baptist Church in South Pittsburg had the winning recipe for lemon cornbread at Cornbread Alley.

However, there are always various personal opinions about which cornbread is the best. Tyler Daniel, of Jasper, Tennessee, described the pepperoni cornbread as “something different,” his wife Rylee said, “I like sweet cornbread,” when describing the Blueberry Burst Cornbread. Charles Kaltenthaler of Clarksville, Tennessee, said the Sweet as Honey Cornbread was delicious.

Pilgrim said the National Cornbread Festival owes its success to the volunteers who run the event and enact suggestions from attendees on how to improve for the next year. Repeat attendance owes its part to the good food and the hospitality shown by the residents. “If you visit us in South Pittsburg on the last weekend in April, you are going to find a town full of people excited to welcome you to their hometown,” Pilgrim said. “We love welcoming back old friends each year, and meeting new people from all over the country who have come to visit our little slice of cornbread heaven.”