By Staff
Jonathan Willis
MOULTON – It's almost time for one of the state's largest events for the month of April.
The fourth annual Alabama Chicken and Egg Festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 12-13, at the Lions Club Fairgrounds in Moulton.
The festival, which has been recognized as one of the Top 10 events in the state for the month of April, has grown each year since its inception.
The Alabama Chicken and Egg Festival is a two-day outdoor festival with food vendors, live entertainment on the Home Grown Stage, barbecue chicken cooking contest, educational exhibits, children's activities, an arts and crafts fair and much more.
In previous years officials recorded more than 12,000 people in attendance. The event is organized by the Lawrence County Arts Council and made possible through the effort of more than 400 volunteers.
Some activities scheduled for the Alabama Chicken and Egg Festival include: a chicken clucking contest, youth beauty pageant, hard boiled egg eating contest, karaoke, an exhibit of more than 100 exotic bantam chickens, and a photo contest.
"It just keeps growing," said festival coordinator Vicki Morese.
Morese started the festival as a way to promote tourism in Lawrence County.
According to Alabama Department of Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, agriculture is the number one industry in Alabama. It employs over 476,000 people, which is roughly 21 percent of the state's workforce. The state of Alabama is the third largest poultry producing state in the country with over one billion birds each year.
All of the events that take place during the festival are theme-related.
"Every community, especially rural communities, have signature events they use for economic stimulus," Morese said. "We needed something we could lay claim to.
"North Alabama is huge when it comes to the poultry industry. We wanted to honor the farmers who are doing so much for our communities and our families."
The headline entertainment for this year's festival is 1970s hit band, Pure Prairie League.
One of the band's most recognized songs, "Amie," has been hailed as a classic.
Other recognizable songs include "Let me Love you Tonight" and "Two Lane Highway."
Admission to the festival is $2 per person and free for those under 5 years old.
"We add something new to the festival each year," Morese said.
"It's all about having a good time and helping the county through economic development."