Category Archives: Festival

Canton Trade Days

Maybe you’ve heard the name Canton, it is known as the world’s largest flea market. Canton Trade Days occurs the first Monday of each month in Canton, Texas. Settled oh so well along I-20 in East Texas, this event attracts vendors and visitors from near and far each and every month. Some of these visitors are from Texas but don’t be surprised to run into others from Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma who call Canton home one weekend a month.

Don’t be alarmed when exiting the highway to be in a slew of vehicles that are heading to the same place you are (to avoid a little traffic, take exit 526). When you arrive, you will see not only a ton of vehicles but also RV’s. Some people come out here all weekend. Also, don’t be surprised if you find yourself lost or needing a map or not knowing where the heck you are.. this place is huge and its a day long event.

When you arrive in Canton you will see an overwhelming items to see. There is a flea market type area where people are selling just about anything you can think of. In another section, you can walk through open buildings viewing, again anything you can think of (handbags, gourmet food, Texas decor, furniture, jewlery, clothing, baby items, doggie treats, etc.). It’s no joke when they say there is something for everyone.

Considering you will be there all day (or in some cases the weekend), there is plenty to eat and drink. You will find the normal “fair type” items such as corn dogs and hamburgers to slighly healthier options of sandwiches and fruit. Be sure to hit up a lemonade stand and we are after all in Texas so of course, there is Dr. Pepper.

If you find yourself with nothing to do one weekend and feel like roaming around looking for, well just about anything, head over to Canton and check it out.

Notes:
Parking is $4 cash.
Be sure to bring cash, not all vendors except cards.
Check out the website, there are coupons which can be used at some shops.

For More Info: http://www.cantontradedays.com/

Texas Steak Cookoff, Hico Texas 2010-05

I can’t say I have a ton of experience attending cookoffs. Since I have moved to Texas, I have learned that Texans love nothing more than their two-step, football and food, more specifically BBQ. It all sounds pretty good to me. So last May I came across this “Steak Cookoff”. I’m always up for a trip but throw in steak, even better!

Hico is a small town about an hour and a half south of Ft. Worth, home of Billy the Kidd. The Texas Steak Cookoff occurs the third Saturday in May and wherever you are – its well worth the trip. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. Let me paint a picture for you – the streets were lined with smokers and BBQ’s of all shapes and sizes. You could look down the street and just see smoke – oh what a beautiful thing! If I remember right, they said the amount of entries doubled between 2009 and 2010. This even has also been featured on the Food Network. I believe in 2010 there were 84 tents (teams).

We started off the day purchasing a $25 bracelet. This entitled us to appetizer sampling from any tent and a steak dinner. That’s right – steak dinner (I’ll get to this in a minute).

The appetizers were not the typical appetizer, they were damn good appetizers, bacon wrapped shrimp, stuffed mushrooms, etc. Each team could opt to enter into an appetizer contest.

Then came the steak. Each team started cooking steaks which would be submitted to judging (sounds like a hard job to be a judge here). While the teams were cooking you could get check out their get-up…

visit with the teams and check out the unique team names…
…play washers or corn hole (aka bags) and sample some of their steaks. Once the steaks were submitted and judging was narrowed down to the top 30 teams each person could go to the tent of their choice where you would get a steak cooked to liking, baked potato, salad and beverage. This event is also BYOB.
Not bad, eh?
We were there for a good 8+ hours, did not get bored. How can you really?
(Quebe Sisters Band… awesome!)
Along with the food mentioned above there were craft vendors, giveaways, live entertainment and local celebrity chefs cooking up some of their favorite dishes. Doug Moreland also played last year.
I really loved this painting by Kenneth Wyatt.
Make sure you put this event on your calendars – remember 3rd Saturday in May. Tell some friends, grab some beer, bring an appetite and get ready for some steak!

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Hico, TX
Texas Steak Cookoff 2011
Texas Steak Cookoff 2012
Texas Steak Cookoff 2013
Texas Steak Cookoff Wine Festival 2013