Downtown Corydon popping as the Harrison County Popcorn Festival made its return after more than 20 years…
alex porter - reporter
Downtown Corydon was popping as the Harrison County Popcorn Festival made its return for the first time in more than 20 years on Friday July 1st and Saturday, July 2nd.
Beginning late Friday afternoon with concerts, a beer garden and the Festival Queen Coronation at Bicentennial Park, the event provided non-stop entertainment and events through the evening hours of Saturday and into Sunday night. Many who attended were excited to see the festival return after such a long hiatus.
“I think it’s great! It’s good that they brought it back. They have a great turnout,” Jan Luther, Corydon resident, said.
“Now they need to bring back the pancake festival!” David Bowling, local resident said. Attendance across both days was strong.
“We had a bunch of vendors selling out on Friday night and today we weren't expecting this big of a crowd this early,” Byron Wilkins with Harrison County Parks said at noon on Saturday. The crowd was large enough that many of the event’s food venders had difficulty keeping up with the demand. “We found the food and all they had was a bologna sandwich. They’d sold out of everything,” resident Joshua Ealy said. “They sold out of their tenderloin, ribeyes, and porkchop sandwiches so all they had was bologna,” he said.
Crowds came early on Saturday to view a strong selection of more than 250 vehicles participating in the festival’s cruise-in car show.
“We came this morning for the car show. It was so nice. There were a lot of cars,” local resident Sarah Burks said.“Probably one of the better car shows I’ve been to. I don’t know a lot about cars but I thought it was really good.”Usually you go to a car show and a couple people have brought in their 2004 mustang and you wonder why,” Burks said.
The crowd stopping vehicle of the show was the “Bonneville Salt Shark.” A blown gasoline turbo powered streamliner speed vehicle. Painted bright green and at least 20 feet in length, it was quite a sight parked along Chestnut Street:
Owned and designed by Tom Flattery of Corydon IN, he was finally talked into bringing it down to the show by his neighbors. Flattery races the vehicle every year at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats, achieving a top speed of 365 MPH last year. “Once we hit 400 MPH, we’re just going to hang it on the wall in the shop and look at it,” Flattery said.
Bicentennial Park was converted into a Kids Zone with activities that included face painting, balloon animals and bouncy houses.
There was live music throughout the day, beginning with the band “Strings of Indian Creek,” performing a strong bluegrass inspired setlist. Local favorites Rosie & the Rockabillies took the stage at 2:00 P.M. followed by Lana Scott from season 21 of The Voice giving a strong performance before the parade down Capital Ave at 7:00 P.M. The event’s parade kicked off at 7:00 P.M. heading south on Capital Ave in front of a strong and energetic crowd lining both sides of the street.
Nostalgia was strong among many who attended. “I’m definitely glad the event is back,” Joshua Ealy said. “It’s a lot of fun bringing my kids down here because I remember when my parents brought me down here,” he said.
The grand finale of the parade was a giant tractor pulled blower shooting popcorn into the air, covering the street and crowd. Many parents looked on in horror as their popcorn-covered children laid down and made “popcorn angels” in the middle of the street. Right after the parade, the band Mad Taxpayers got the crowd in front of the stage energized with a solid set of classic rock favorites and the occasional pop hit including “Sweet Child of Mine” and “Billie Jean.” There was a decent amount of dancing and at one point, there was a glimpse of a possible moshpit being created by some Generation X and Millennial audience members.
A fireworks display set to 4th of July music wrapped up the night at 9:50 P.M.