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News • Arkansas • United States • 2012-10-02

Cornbread Connoisseurs Crank Up for 2nd Annual Arkansas Cornbread Festival

The Arkansas Cornbread Festival (ARCBF), which is only five weeks away, is seeking amateur and professional cooks to show off their best cornbread recipes during the 2nd annual event.

Those wanting to show their cornbread-baking skills can enter the amateur competition for $25 or professional competition for $75. Categories are traditional, non-traditional and sweet, and it is up to each competitor to choose the category in which their entry will compete. New this year is the Best Side Item category, and any of the competitors can provide a side item of their choice. For entry forms, access http://arkansascornbreadfestival.com/?page_id=6.

Winners will receive:

• Best Overall Winner (best in show) - $500, a trophy, a blue ribbon and a gift basket.

• Best Overall Winners in Traditional, Nontraditional and Sweet Categories - trophies

• Best Professional Winner - $100 and a gift basket.

• Best Amateur Winner – $100 and a gift basket.

• Best Professional, Traditional – $75 and a t-shirt.

• Best Professional, Non-Traditional – $75 and a t-shirt.

• Best Professional, Sweet - $75 and a t-shirt.

• Best Amateur, Traditional – $75 and a t-shirt.

• Best Amateur, Non-Traditional –$75 and a t-shirt.

• Best Amateur, Sweet –$75 and a t-shirt.

• Best Side Item – trophy and a cast iron dutch oven from Lodge Cast Iron.

The entries will be judged by everyone attending the festival as well as a panel of celebrity judges. The ARCBF will take place from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. on South Main Street between 13th and 16th Streets in downtown Little Rock on Sat., Nov. 3, 2012. Tickets to the event are $7 for adults, $3 for kids 6-12 years and free for children under six prior to Nov. 3. Tickets the day of the festival are $10 for adults, $5 for kids 6-12 years and free for children under six. For tickets, visits http://arkansascornbreadfestival.com/?page_id=376.

Along South Main, vendors will display and sell Arkansas-art, handmade crafts, clothes, jewelry, home furnishings, locally-produced food and gifts of all sorts. Booth fee is $50 for vendors, free for nonprofits; however, nonprofits must provide volunteers to assist the festival. For a vendor application and more information, visit http://arkansascornbreadfestival.com/?page_id=10.

The area of South Main from Daisy Gatson Bates to 18th Street has revitalized with the addition of a grocery store, pharmacy, family discount store, gift and variety shop, several restaurants and entertainment venues, and an urban garden. Many people – especially those who live and work downtown – did not realize the amenities available to them in this area. The goal of the 2012 Arkansas Cornbread Festival is to attract people to that area to showcase all of its progress and to encourage them to return to eat, shop, tour and visit often.

Sponsors for this year’s event include the Bernice Garden, Pulaski Technical College, Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, First Security, Bray Sheet Metal, Streetz 101.1, R and E Supply Co., United Systems, Bowen Law School, Flywrite Communications, Ashley Ann’s Events, City of Little Rock, Edwards Food Giant, H Group, Jill Judy and Mark Brown, Community Bakery, Lawson & Co. Graphics and Printing, Webster University, Aristotle, Gerald Cound, Urban Bounty, Page Wilson and the Green Corner Store. The music stage is sponsored by the Oxford American and provided by Golden Eagle of Arkansas, and the Kids’ Corner is sponsored and provided by FunDunk.

For questions or more information about how to participate in the festival, where to buy tickets or recipes, contact Liz Sanders, coordinator of the Bernice Garden and the Arkansas Cornbread Festival, at [email protected] or call 501-617-2511.

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