A little rain didn’t stop crowds from coming out to the fourth annual Berrien Springs Pickle Festival on Thursday.
The event was held at the History Center at Courthouse Square to celebrate the Fourth of July and the area’s proud pickle heritage. Sarah Spoonholtz with the Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber, and a Pickle Fest volunteer, told us they had plenty going on.
“We’ve got over 50 different craft vendors, 10-ish different food vendors that are out here too,” Spoonholtz said. “We’ve had the Big Wheel races that happened earlier today for the littles, and then we also did a relish eating contest, which our adult winner won in 20 seconds. And then we’ve got a frozen t-shirt contest and the Pickle Fling that’s happening right now.”
Spoonholtz says the record for the Pickle Fling is nearly 300 feet.
Pickle Fest goers relished in the pickle tasting room, the Michigan Pickle Emporium, and innovative pickle recipes served up by vendors, like pickle pretzels, Dr. Pepper with pickles, and pickle pizza. Children also had the chance to send Berrien County Sheriff Chuck Heit into the dunk tank, and many did.
So, what’s with all the pickles?
“Berrien Springs was named the Christmas Pickle Capital of the World by, I believe, Better Homes and Gardens Magazine back in the 80s and 90s,” Spoonholtz said. “They had been doing a Christmas Pickle Parade up until the early 2000s, and unfortunately, it just kind of went away. And there were talks, especially post-COVID, of like, ‘Hey, how do we get more people here? How do we show them how amazing Berrien Springs is?”
So, the Pickle Festival was brought back.
Spoonholtz says the event has been a resounding success, with about 1,500 attendees its first year, 3,000 the second year, and 6,000 last year. She was hoping the Pickle Fest is a big enough dill to attract even more this year.
