PIE TOWN, N.M. — The 36th Annual Pie Town Pie Festival is set for September 10, 2016, and will be offering a slate of old time fun for those who come to the scenic and historic town of Pie Town, New Mexico, USA.
Events start at 8 a.m. with the pi-K Run for Pie – and, yes, it’s a 3.14 mile run. More information can be found at: http://jimejoalbin.wixsite.com/runforpie.
At 9 a.m. pie bakers will arrive with their home made entries for the Pie Baking Contest. Every year a grand prize winner is awarded $100 and bragging rights, plus there are winners in the categories for Best Fruit Pie, Best Nut Pie, Best Other Pie, and Best Youth Pie for under-17 bakers. Rules for the 2016 Pie Festival Pie Baking Contest can be found posted online at: http://www.pietownfestival.com/.
Entries can be made on the day of the event at the Pie Town Fire Station-just no cream pies that need refrigeration, please. And make sure your pie tin or plate can be auctioned off with the pie as a fund raiser for Pie Town.
Games begin at 10 a.m. with the very popular Horseshoe Tournament, followed by the very messy Pie Eating Contest, the Horned Toad Race (you have to catch your entry first, but the local stable is large), and other games for kids of all ages.
The 2016 Pie Queen will be crowned at 11:30, and the winners of the Pie Baking Contest will be announced. In the afternoon, you can buy an award-winning slice, and pies will be available for sale all day at Pie Town’s Jackson Park, along with gifts and handmade crafts. Music will be offered at the park’s pavilion, including some foot-stomping fiddle and guitar favorites from Wes and Joe Burris.
At 7 p.m. the annual dance kicks-off featuring “Wild Ride” (dance tickets $7). The dance will be held at the pavilion if weather is good, or in the community center (the old Farm Bureau building) if rain threatens. During the day you will also hear music from Left Handed Fiddler, Austin Ladd and Patti, Jim Ruff and Francie Dieters and other surprise guests.
Pie Town NM USA’s Pie Festival first began as a local community canning event and has grown into a slice of old time fun for everyone. Pie Town has been known as a haven for pies ever since Clive Norman, a WWI vet settled in the area and started making pies for those traveling through. In 1924, a red-headed Texas cowboy named Harmon L. Craig bought a half-interest in Pie Town for “one dollar of good and lawful money and other valuable consideration.” Craig opened a gas station and garage, and then Pie Town’s fame was spread even wider when Russel Lee arrived in Pie Town to document rural life in the 1940’s.
Pie Town still retains much of the charm of that era, when life was simple and the pie was a staple of every roadside cafe.
Pie Town offers free dry camping behind the Jackson Park, along with several RV sites in Pie Town and at Top of the World. In addition, Pie Town now offers four pie cafes that will be open during the event. Pie Town NM USA is located directly on Highway 60, West of New Mexico’s Very Large Array (VLA) made famous in the movie, “Contact” with Jodi Foster.
Proceeds from the Pie Festival go to help support the community and keep Pie Town a haven for anyone who loves pie.
You may have seen Pie Town on the Travel Channel and on Sunday Morning TV shows or you may have seen the beautiful, historic photographs from the Smithsonian; now, don’t you think it is time for a taste?
About Pie Town Rising Stars:
“Pie Town Rising Stars” is a Non-Profit Organization dedicated to restoring, preserving and improving the Historic Town of Pie Town, New Mexico. We have some of the darkest skies in the world, and we’re organizing the “Pie in the Sky” Star Party, whose proceeds will go to improve Pie Town’s infrastructure, and help make Pie Town a visitor friendly, prosperous travel destination. Learn more at https://pietownrisingstars.wordpress.com/.
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