A group of small business owners, three weeks of time, and a deep love for pickles – that’s what it took to turn the upcoming Mississippi Gulf Coast Pickle Fest from an idea into reality.
Mary Grant can be found on the first Thursday of each month at the Jackson County Fairgrounds in Pascagoula for Feastin’ at the Fairgrounds, a popular community festival centered around local food trucks. Grant herself owns Mary’s Freeze Dried Snax and has befriended the owners of several food trucks through the event, including Papa’s Peanuts, Mississippi Mud’s Cakes, and Positive Energy.
During May’s edition of Feastin’ at the Fairgrounds, Scott Lighter of Papa’s Peanuts had just returned from a pickle festival in Mobile, Ala., and was over the moon at how popular it was. Also inspired by the success of the Mississippi Pickle Fest held annually in the city of Jackson, the group of small business owners decided there was no reason they couldn’t start their own event on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
“[Scott] went over to a pickle fest in Alabama and was telling us how awesome it was and we knew about the one in Jackson,” Grant explained on Good Things with Rebecca Turner. “Me, personally, and I know a lot of my friends and family are like this. We’re not going to drive all the way to Jackson. So, we got together and came up with the idea: ‘Hey, you know what? People love pickles. Let’s just do it.’”
In the three weeks after that conversation, Grant and the other organizers pooled their resources, secured the Jackson County Fairgrounds as the venue, and began spreading the word about the inaugural Mississippi Gulf Coast Pickle Fest, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 13.
Grant, a West Coast transplant who believes in the power of social media, started using her business Facebook pages and even created a Mississippi Gulf Coast Pickle Fest group for vendors to start sharing ideas on what to offer. Not only did ideas come in droves, but so did public excitement.
“We wanted to make sure that everyone involved was able to give their most creative ideas, because we know the pickle people who are obsessed with pickles want it all. They want pickle earrings, pickle candles, pickle towels, pickle shirts,” Grant said. “We kind of put everything into it, and it’s just really blown up and grown.”
Taking those suggestions into account, Grant, her fellow organizers, and local vendors “kind of handpicked and curated what we thought would be really cool.” The result will be plenty of pickle paraphernalia for people to shop for, but most importantly, plenty of pickle varieties and pickled items for people to taste.
“Everyone will have their own offering. Somebody will lean in more to the sweet pickles, and somebody else will lean in more to the spicy pickles,” Grant said. “We have eight actual pickle vendors that also do other things like canning and salsa and spices.”
Food offerings will include a variety of pickles, pickle-flavored boiled peanuts, pickle-brined smoked meats, pickle-flavored cupcakes with pickle frosting and, of course, Kool-Aid pickles, better known throughout the South as “koolickles.”
For those who aren’t big pickle fans but still want to come out for the fun, there will be plenty of non-pickle options as well.
“Because we want everyone to still have their regular menu but still offer the pickle itself, we will have pickle vendors and other food and dessert trucks,” Grant said. “We want to have something for everyone.”
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Pickle Fest is free to attend and will be held under the pavilion at the Jackson County Fairgrounds located at 2902 Shortcut Rd. in Pascagoula. Rain or shine, Grant said attendees can expect a “big dill of fun for everyone.”
