Watermelon Festival & Cornhole Tournament August 7
By Kelly Bledsoe
kellybledsoe@triad.rr.com
Children of all ages are bound to enjoy all the fun family activities planned for the 5th Annual Denton Watermelon Festival
set for Saturday, August 7 in Harrison Park. Members of the Town of Denton Parks & Recreation board and town staff
have been hard at work pulling the event together and it is guaranteed to be “One in a Melon!” This is a
free event that the entire family will enjoy, not to mention a great way to enjoy fresh cut watermelon!
The festivities
will begin at 9am and run until 3pm. New this year is the Water Melon Wind Down where the Whisky Dan Band will be performing
live in Harrison Park at 7:00pm. So make plans to spend the entire day and evening enjoying fellowship and fun in our hometown!
The Annual Watermelon Pageant will take place at the Denton Wesleyan Pavilion at 9am. Over 50 contestants have already registered
for the various divisions covering all ages. The crowning of the winners in each division will take place at 2:00pm in Harrison
Park.
Also new this year Spartacus an 1850 pound American Brahman Bull will be on the grounds providing wonderful photo
opportunities. His owner, Cyana Briles was one of the founding member responsible for starting the Watermelon Festival and
she looks forward to returning to the festival and showing off her exotic bull.
There will games and entertainment throughout
the day and all are free to enter and open to everyone. It’s all about having FUN!
Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest-
Each contestant will be given a small slice of watermelon and they will spit the seeds from their slice of watermelon. This
is a contest for distance and each contestant gets to spit four seeds that will be measured for the longest distance.
Winners receive a free watermelon and a festival t-shirt.
Watermelon Eating Contest- Contestants will have 90 seconds
to eat a huge piece of watermelon with their hands behind their back. The winner is the person who eats the most of their
watermelon or the person who finishes down to the rind first. Winners receive a free watermelon and a festival t-shirt.
Watermelon Crawl Contest- Contestants will line up with a water-melon in front of them...they have to roll the watermelon
with their head only while on their hands and knees across a 20-yard stretch of grass across the finish line. Winners receive
a free watermelon and a festival t-shirt.
Largest Homegrown Watermelon Contest- Bring your largest homegrown watermelon
and have it weighed on our farm scale. The person with the heaviest watermelon will receive a festival t-shirt and big-time
bragging rights for a whole year. No age division for this contest.
The Cornhole Tournament - registration starts
at 9am, tournament starts at 10am. Teams are two members, any age. Corn bags will be provided, you can also bring
your own pellet bags if you prefer. Prize money and festival t-shirts for the top three teams.
There
will also be festival vendors selling a wide variety of items. Our festival food vendors will be selling watermelon slices,
and lemonade and other food vendors will also be on site. For more information visit the Town of Denton website www.townofdenton.com,
email applications@townofdenton.com or visit www.facebook.com/DentonWatermelonFestival.