The kickoff of Henderson’s festival season is always the Tri-Fest, an April community staple since 1988, and this year, organizers are touting several new events to attract a wider range of participants.
The three-day downtown festival organized by the Henderson Breakfast Lions will be Friday, April 19-Sunday, April 21.
For the first time, a pickleball tournament will be a part of the Tri-Fest’s activities, said Bill Floyd, a co-chair of the festival. Floyd said he hopes it will become an every-year event at the Tri-Fest.
The pickleball tournament will be at the Henderson County High School tennis courts on both Saturday and Sunday.
Also a part of the weekend events is a cornhole tournament, which occurs 1 p.m. Sunday at the Lumberyard Event Center. Floyd hopes this event will attract a bit of an older demographic.
“That’s (a group) we haven’t been able to reach before,” he said.
The revenue from this event will benefit The Gathering Place. The Homeplace of Henderson, Butler’s Apothecary and 270 Cornhole are sponsoring this event.
For the second year, children will get a chance to show their pedal power with the pedal tractor pull, which will be held at the corner of Second and Main streets from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
According to Rose Wheeler, Breakfast Lions president this year, the maximum age for participants is 12 and the youngest is “as long as they can reach the pedals.”
Additionally the organizers say that they are still attempting to get a classic cars show set up for Sunday afternoon. At the time of the late March interview, it was still uncertain if that was going to occur.
The annual event has grown from taking up a couple of blocks and Central Park when it began in 1988. Floyd said a trailer was pulled up to the corner of First and Main streets and the entertainment, Les Smithart and the Super X Cowboys, set up on the trailer.
“We had food booths and a little bit of entertainment,” Floyd said.
Now the 21 members of the Breakfast Lions, along with plenty of community help, organize the festival that spans Main Street from Washington Street all the way to Third Street, while also using Central Park and other parking lots to hold events and rides.
This year (the 36th annual because 2020 and 2021 were cancelled because of COVID-19), the entertainment includes six musical acts over the three days, as well as a fireworks display Friday night at 9 p.m.
Floyd said the event takes in money from the costs of booth rentals, and all 75 have already been rented out from both local and regional vendors. Much of the money raised is then given to local nonprofits. Last year, he said between $27,000 and $30,000 was awarded locally.
Some of the money raised goes toward keeping the Tri-Fest going, which includes paying for upgrades and fixes.
The amount the Breakfast Lions have given since the Tri-Fest’s inception is at about $780,000, Floyd said.
The Tri-Fest name often causes a head scratch, as in is it for three counties or three days?
Neither.
It stands for the three aspects of the community that the Lions serve: schools, churches and home.
The Hendersonian will be at the Tri-Fest on Saturday selling merchandise and assisting those who want to subscribe. Please stop by and see us.