Fulton, Ky. and South Fulton, Ky.–The ‘Twin Cities” of Fulton, Ky. and South Fulton, Tenn. are busy this week with the 60th annual Banana Festival. There’s nowhere else you can see (and help eat) a one ton banana pudding and have a banana brawl.
The Festival honors the role Fulton played in bringing fresh fruit to our region. With the advent of the refrigerated cars in the 1880s, Fulton became the hub of transportation of bananas to the South. At one point, over 70% of the bananas that were consumed in the US passed through Fulton. Fulton became known as “The Banana Capital of the World.”
Johnny Mac and The Heart Attacks from Henry County will be performing at 6 p.m. Tuesday, September 12 at Pontotoc Park, with Ethan Torsak (also of Henry County) performing Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. The band Parmalee will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Unity Park, with Raelynn performing at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
Activities through the week include banana bake offs, banana scavenger hunts, the Tyson Community Meal at 5 p.m. Wednesday, the grand parade at 4 p.m. Saturday and the unveiling of the one ton pudding.
For a full schedule, see https://thebananafestival.com/schedule/
Here is the history on the Banana Festival:
In about 1880 the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad was the first to develop refrigerated cars. Suddenly those not living in tropical regions could have the same fruits year round that others enjoyed. Fulton, at the time, was home to a large railroad facility and became the redistribution point for the railroad because of its central location between New Orleans and Canada. The United Fruit Co, now Chiquita, began shipping bananas from South America by ship to New Orleans. The bananas were loaded onto railcars on top of 162 pound blocks of ice for the trip north. Fulton had the only ice house on the route north to Chicago. The bananas were re-iced with blocks from the Fulton Ice Plant, now closed. Empty railcars were pulled up to the side of the ice house and these large blocks of ice were loaded end up covering the entire box car. The bananas were then laid on top of the ice to continue their journey. At one point, over 70% of the bananas that were consumed in the US passed through Fulton. Fulton became known as “The Banana Capital of the World.”