75th Annual Peanut Festival Update: ‘The Show Must Go On’

By Kelly Nicol

Messenger Editor

GRAPELAND – As they say in the entertainment business, “The show must go on,” and that is the approach that the Grapeland Chamber of Commerce is taking towards moving forward with the 75th Anniversary Jubilee – “The Legacy Continues.”

As the Memorial Day weekend festivities drew to a close, communities across East Texas and the state for that matter seemed a little more at ease with dealing with COVID-19. The lakes were filled with boaters over the weekend and people seemed to be glad to get out.

The focus will soon shift in Grapeland to the Peanut Festival and Grapeland Chamber of Commerce President Brandon Bridges said the main thing he wanted assure the people of Grapeland is that there will be a Peanut Festival.

“We will have the pageant and the parade,” Bridges said, noting the Peanut Queen sign-up dates will still coincide with the beginning of the school year.

Candidates are encouraged to contact pageant director Tammy Hassell to inform her that they would like to run for Peanut Queen so the process for finding a sponsor can be started, Bridges said. Tammy Hassell can be reached by email at [email protected].

The Chamber is also taking vendor applications. Arts, crafts and food vendors should go to the Grapeland Chamber of Commerce website (grapelandareachamber.org) and download the application.

“We are really excited about the 75th anniversary of the Grapeland Peanut Festival and look for it to be a great event. There are some really special things that are in the works that will be rolling out within the next couple of months to make the 75th Jubilee (“The Legacy Continues”) really special,” Bridges said.

In wrapping up, Bridges wanted to reiterate that Grapeland will have a pageant and parade “in whatever manner we have to have it.”