Southern fall festivals are always a great family activity, and one of the South’s fastest growing family festivals, the Mississippi Pecan Festival, should be on the “must” list.
“It started simply as an arts and crafts show,” Jeannette Fulmer, who founded the festival with her husband Ken and their sons, said. “Actually, it just started in the front yard as a ‘glorified yard sale’ with only about 150 in attendance. From there, it just kept building, and it became something more like a festival and took on more of a county fair atmosphere.”
The festival has made some pretty impressive growth from its humble beginnings. In its twenty-fifth edition, the Mississippi Pecan Festival promises more fun, wonderful music, and great food than ever before. Over the three-day weekend from September 28-30, you can enjoy regional food fare like homemade bread, pecan pies, muscadine and mayhaw jelly, ooey gooey cakes, fried blooming onions, and kettle corn, while browsing over 250 booths of arts and crafts from talented area artisans. And you’ll be serenaded by Bluegrass and Gospel music as you amble through the dappled sunshine that makes its way through the canopy of pecan trees.
There’s something about fall that makes folks want to hit the backroads and spend some time in farming country, and the Pecan Festival is the perfect inspiration for one of these trips because it offers something for everyone in the family. There are the above noted arts and crafts; pony, train, and wagon rides; a play area for the kids; and lots of demonstrations that pay tribute to the history of this place. Wood carving, soap making, basket weaving, butter churning, knife making, and pottery making are among the demonstrations.
“For the young kids, it’s the experience that’s like going to grandpa’s farm, but for the older guys, it’s a step back in time,” Jeannette said.
The Fulmer farm is a living embodiment of days gone by, featuring a little homestead right out of the 1800s. Visitors can tour the Jones House and Dunnam House, log cabins that are over a hundred years old, and were disassembled by Ken Fulmer and moved from Greene County, Mississippi to the Fulmer homestead. Antiques, unique adornments, colorful quilts, and vintage washing machines (and other vintage appliances) set the stage in each of the cabins, giving visitors a view into times long past.
The Fulmers have created a very special place to learn more about the toil and labor that our forefathers endured to work the land and support their families. Mule pulls, draft horse exhibitions, and other tributes to the past are an integral part of the festival. History comes to life as kids watch butter being made in an antique churn to slather on the homemade biscuits right from Granny Elsie’s wood stove. Young guests can gather eggs in the chicken yard or take a turn at the antique lawnmower. Tours through the Victory Garden offer a view into a much more difficult time in history.
One of the most popular features of the Pecan Festival is the exceptional entertainment. The cry of the fiddle and the twang of the banjo echo through the pecan orchard, from traditional musicians that this year include lots of talented local bluegrass and gospel musicians, dulcimer workshops, fiddling competitions, filling the grounds with great music all weekend long.
The Pecan Festival Beauty Contest is one more element to the festival’s old time county fair feel.
But in these parts, the beauty is not limited to lovely Southern belles. As they say, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Very true when it comes to the Purtiest Rooster Contest, and the many fans that admire the regal birds with gleaming feathers and proud crimson combs.
Another favorite event for many festival-goers is the Sunday morning non-denominational church service held on the homestead, during which inspiring Gospel melodies hang in the crisp morning air.
A visit to the Pecan Festival is not complete without a visit to Fulmer’s General Store located on the property and open year round. Reminiscent of general stores of yore, the store offers a wide variety of all-natural goods, farming supplies, and unique gifts—many you won‘t find anywhere else.
When the Fulmers were making plans for their store, they wanted to “recreate what the general store used to be like—where nostalgia meets fresh home goodness,” and it appears that they have been very successful in doing just that.
Visitors are warmly greeted like old friends or neighbors. The down-home feeling is accentuated by the heavenly scents coming from Jeanette’s oven in the store’s deli—home baked bread, pies, and cakes tempt all who venture here to stop for a while and enjoy freshly baked goodness served up with a smile. You’ll have to try the special lunch of the day or some of the freshly made chicken salad complete with pecans and grapes. Everything—the apple tarts, coconut cake, German chocolate cake—is always fresh from the oven.
“She’s always cooking up a storm in there,” Ken said of his wife.
The Fulmers believe in the simple Amish way of life and offer a wide selection of Amish foods and beautiful handiwork. As with the Amish, the Fulmers have embraced a complete devotion to the land, believing in the power of a hard day’s work and living a down-to-earth life.
“It’s just a much better way to live,” Jeannette Fulmer said. “It might not be so easy and might involve a little extra work, but it is so much better for you and your body. We just really wanted to live off the land, and this way of life allows us to do that.”
That simple way of life is celebrated in the Fulmers’ homestead and the Mississippi Pecan Festival.
“The festival is three days of family fun that relates the past to the present,” Jeannette said. “There is a sense of history, but most importantly is the southern folk culture that is honest and true in the strong sense of horses, folk music, and folk art that the vendors bring in.”
And don’t forget the whole reason for the festival is to celebrate the beloved Mississippi pecan. So make sure you get to enjoy a piece of the delicious, melt-in-your-mouth pecan pies on hand.
Details. Details. Details.
The Mississippi Pecan Festival
September 28–30, 2012
510A Wingate Road
Beaumont, Mississippi (25 miles east of Hattiesburg on the edge of the Desoto National Forest)
$10 adults; free for children ages four and under
The Fulmers offer a limited number of full RV hookups on the grounds that are first come, first served, along with primitive camping sites.
Lake Perry State Park about ten miles away also has camping. For more information, call (601) 784-6119.
