On the last day of September, a friend and I made the two-hour trek out to the Mississippi Pecan Festival in Beaumont, MS, on the pecan orchard grounds of the Folmser General Store. I discovered the event on Facebook, and didn’t know much about it other than as “The Most Family Friendly Festival in Mississippi,” that the festival organizers touted it as on their website. The site promised a fiddle showdown, blacksmithing workshops, mule pulls, beauty pageant, and much more.
The festival was packed with young, local families and people of all ages. Heavy, various Mississippi accents surrounded me everywhere I turned. Confederate flag artwork was for sale, and children’s bandanas with the flag were sold at another vendor’s table. Windchimes made out of old Budweiser and Miller bottles hung at another. You could get both homemade cane syrup as well as a rifle in just one stop, or buy homemade knives from another seller. Festival goers could watch their ice cream be churned fresh, the old fashioned-way. Blacksmiths created knives and hair pieces on-site for anyone to see.
As soon as I stepped inside of the general store, I was immediately greeted by the smell of bread rising. It smelled like cinnamon rolls to me, but I didn’t see any in sight. Instead, I saw different loaves of homemade bread, jalapeno and multigrain. Several different kinds of pies were also available. Shoppers could purchase pies fresh from the kitchen. I spotted flavors such as lemon, chocolate, sweet potato, and of course pecan. The general store was chock full of other various goodies. Jam, jellies, pickled veggies, grains, squash, pecans, homesteading books, boots, and clothing were some of the items that stood out to me. A