By Staff
Jonathan Willis
The fourth annual Alabama Chicken and Egg Festival begins tomorrow in nearby Moulton.
Event organizers are expecting what could be the largest crowds they have ever drawn for the two-day event. In previous years, officials have estimated more than 12,000 people there in attendance at the festival, which is held at the Lions Club Fairgrounds.
The Alabama Chicken and Egg Festival is a two-day outdoor-festival with food vendors, live entertainment, and barbecue chicken cooking contests, educational exhibits, children's activities, an arts and crafts fair and much more.
Some activities planned for this year's event include: a chicken clucking contest, a youth beauty pageant, hard boiled egg eating contest, karaoke, an exhibit of more than 100 exotic bantam chickens and an photo contest.
Former Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce director Vicki Morese developed the festival four years ago as a way to promote tourism in the county.
According to Alabama Department of Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks' office, agriculture is the number one industry in the state. 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.
"The poultry industry is very important to Lawrence County and north Alabama," Morese said. "This festival is a great way to show support to our farmers and the poultry industry."
All of the activities involved with the festival are theme related.
The headline entertainment this year is 1970s hit band, Pure Prairie League.
One of the band's most recognized songs, "Amie" has been hailed as a classic for years.
Another attraction will be Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 car.