Delmarva Chicken Festival facts for kids
The Delmarva Chicken Festival is a fun annual event. It celebrates chicken farming on the Delmarva Peninsula. This area is famous for raising lots of chickens. The festival started in 1948 or 1949. Its main goal was to show off the Delmarva region. It especially highlighted its important chicken industry.
The festival is a two-day event. It takes place in different towns across the Delmarva Peninsula. You can find many exciting things there. These include exhibits about poultry equipment. There are also contests, like the National Chicken Cooking Contest. A parade, arts and crafts, and a carnival add to the fun. You can also enjoy live entertainment and food stands.
Festival Food
Chicken is the main food at the festival. But there are many other tasty treats too. You can find french fries, corn-on-the-cob, and funnel cake. Ice cream, kettle corn, and fresh-squeezed lemonade are also popular. Each year, nearly three tons of chicken are cooked. This happens in the world's largest frying pan.
The Giant Fry Pan
The giant frying pan first appeared at the festival in 1950. It was made by the Mumford Sheet Metal Company. This company is located in Selbyville, Delaware. The pan was given to the Delmarva Poultry Industry. It helped promote chicken from the Delmarva Peninsula.
The original pan was huge! It was ten feet wide. Its handle was eight feet long. The pan was 18 inches deep. It needed 180 gallons of cooking oil. It also used 150 gallons of LP gas. The pan itself weighed 650 pounds. It could cook 800 chicken quarters at once. For the 65th festival, about four tons of chicken were used.
Festival History
The Delmarva Chicken Festival has been held in many places. The second festival took place in Dover, Delaware in June 1950. The 18th festival was in Salisbury, Maryland in June 1965. In 1967, the 20th festival returned to Dover, Delaware. The 22nd festival was held in Seaford, Delaware in June 1969.
Later festivals include the 60th in Centreville, Maryland in June 1990. In June 1998, it was held in Millsboro, Delaware. The 65th festival took place in Centreville, Maryland, in June 2014. This was expected to be the last year for the festival and its Giant Fry Pan. However, the 71st festival still happened in Centreville, Maryland, in mid-June 2020. It was a smaller event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Delmarva Chicken Festival also took place in Ocean View, Maryland, in May 2022.
See also
- Tyson Foods, Inc.
- Perdue Farms, Inc.
- Mountaire Farms, Inc.
- Allen Family Foods, Inc.
