Marion Popcorn Festival facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Marion Popcorn Festival |
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|---|---|
| Status | active |
| Genre | festivals |
| Frequency | Annually, First weekend after Labor Day |
| Location(s) | Marion, Ohio |
| Coordinates | 40°35′12″N 83°7′35″W / 40.58667°N 83.12639°W |
| Country | USA |
| Years active | 44 |
| Inaugurated | 1981 |
The Marion Popcorn Festival is a super fun event held every year in downtown Marion, Ohio, USA. It started in 1981 and happens every September. You can find it on the first weekend after Labor Day.
Marion is famous for popcorn! Companies like Wyandot Snacks and Orville Redenbacher's used to make lots of popcorn here. Wyandot Snacks was even the biggest popcorn exporter in the USA. Also, Cracker Jack was made in Marion for almost ten years!
In 1982, during the festival's second year, Wyandot Snacks showed off a giant 40-foot-long bag of popcorn. They even tried to get it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest popcorn bag ever!
Contents
What Happens at the Festival?
The Marion Popcorn Festival is known for being the biggest popcorn festival in the world! It brings in huge crowds, sometimes over 250,000 people. That's like a small city visiting for the weekend!
Awesome Music and Shows
Festival organizers invite famous performers to play music and entertain the crowds. Over the years, many cool acts have performed. These include Ernest Borgnine, Gloria Estefan, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Lorrie Morgan, The Neville Brothers, and Huey Lewis and the News.
More recently, in 2016, Kellie Pickler and Skid Row performed. In 2017, you could see The Georgia Satellites and the Gin Blossoms. Then in 2019, Frankie Ballard and Hinder rocked the stage.
Featured on TV
In 2004, the Travel Channel visited the festival! They filmed parts of the event for a show called "Taste of America" with Mark DeCarlo. This helped share the fun of the Marion Popcorn Festival with people all over the country.
Festival Changes Over Time
Like many big events, the Marion Popcorn Festival has faced challenges. For example, the 2020 festival had to be cancelled. This was because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made it unsafe for large groups to gather.
