Sorghum Festival tradition ends after 55 years

A beloved 55-year tradition that grew tremendously from its humble beginnings in 1969 as a small celebratory fundraiser honoring the agricultural heritage of Union County dating back to the pioneer days – gone.

Online speculation as to why the festival has ended kicked into high gear Saturday afternoon when someone shared on Facebook an email from the Sorghum Festival Club notifying last year’s vendors about the former community mainstay coming to a close.

“The 55th annual Sorghum Festival in October of 2024 was our final year,” Organizer Angie Dills wrote. “The Blairsville Sorghum Festival has been permanently shut down.

“We have been fortunate over the years to receive support from our local Commissioner’s Office. Unfortunately, we no longer have the support that is needed to be able to continue. We are hopeful you still have time to apply to other Fall shows.

“Thank you for your support of our festival. We have appreciated those of you who have made our volunteer work an enjoyable experience. We have made many friends over the years. Good Luck and God Bless.”

A major point of the online speculation was whether new Sole Commissioner Harold Collins had pressured the Sorghum Festival Club into a situation of having to turn over thousands of dollars in proceeds in order to receive the county’s assistance in running the festival.

For his part, Collins said Sunday that he remained eager to assist the club in any way possible to continue the festival, to include the event running as always with free assistance from the county, and he noted his belief that there had been a misunderstanding about what he had been offering.

A response directly from Commissioner Collins on the cancellation appears separately in this week’s newspaper.

The county assists by providing the use of Meeks Park as the festival grounds, where the club-owned sorghum mill and big 16-by-3 woodfired syrup-cooking pan reside, as well as first responders who are paid to coordinate traffic and parking.

Festival Organizer Lisa Kane clarified on the festival’s Facebook page Sunday that Commissioner Collins did not have “any input in our decision to cancel the festival.”

“That decision is ours and ours alone,” Kane said. “We are a small group of volunteers and in no capacity work for the county or at the direction of the county.”

In the interest of quelling the “pecking contest … ignited by our post to our wonderful vendors, fellow nonprofits and demonstration vendors,” Kane shared a “true brief rundown” of her understanding of what transpired between the club and the Commissioner’s Office.

Kane said she had requested a meeting with Collins in early February, noting, “We have always touched base with the commissioner prior to any year’s festival.” This meeting took place Feb. 11, during which Kane said she asked if the Syrup Makers “were good to go for 2025.”

Collins informed her then that County Clerk Jennifer Mahan and County Manager Tony Hughes had come up with a plan for the festival, Kane said.

This plan included having the county organize the vendors and mark the field for vendor setup on the eve of the festival, but responsibility for any vendor-related problems that arose during the festival would be left up to club volunteers to handle, Kane said.

The rationale supplied for making the club responsible in this way, according to Kane, “was that it would be a conflict of interest for the county to manage the vendors during the festival.”

“I did not ask why that would be a conflict of interest, but I assume one of the three of them will address this when they are ready. In exchange, they (wanted) 100% of the vendor booth fees,” Kane said, which ultimately proved untenable for the club.

It seems that the festival has been close to closing for several years, as club members, with their dwindling volunteer base, had originally decided “to let 2019, the 50th anniversary, be the end,” especially after the 2020 outing had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Kane said that, in 2021, the county and club came to an agreement that the club would pay for everything festival-related inside the gates while the county would support the volunteers by having “our wonderful” firefighters manage traffic and parking, “which falls outside the gates.”

“In 2021, we were heavily courted by the Commissioner’s Office, the Chamber of Commerce Office and the (Blairsville Downtown Development Authority) that we would have all the help we needed,” Kane said, “and the county would hold their end of the bargain of traffic control and parking.

“Yes, like the idiots we were, we believed it all and decided OK. The revenue brought into this county by the Sorghum Festival itself is more than enough to cover any expense that the county expends to the fire department for directing traffic and parking.

“Of course we know this. It’s not our first festival, Margaret. We didn’t beg to put the festival on – they begged us to continue it (in 2021). Let’s get that straight for future reference.”

To continue the festival then, the club began working with nonprofit Enotah CASA, which assumed responsibility for vendors and admissions, and the festival ran this way for three years, though the club took back full control in 2024 due to organizational differences with CASA.

And everything appeared set for the 2025 festival. But according to Kane, not only would vendor booth fees be going to the county under the commissioner’s new plan, but “we were told that in exchange for fire/rescue they would also require the gate/entrance revenue.”

“They told me that they would be taking the approximately $56,000-$60,000 Sorghum Festival generated income and letting all the children that pay ball at Meeks Park play for free,” Kane said.

In summation, Kane said the club was told that the county “would let us put the festival on with those stipulations, and they would have an attorney draw up paperwork for the agreement.”

“I told them to hold off on that, probably wouldn’t be required,” Kane said. “Sorghum Festival people held a meeting (and) decided that would not be beneficial to what we accomplish with our festival-generated income … and (we) said we’ll just let it ride at 55.”

Moving forward, Kane said club members will continue their scholarship funding and various projects in the county until their funds are depleted; maintain their corporate name, officially “The Blairsville Sorghum Festival”; and “continue to be the very fine people that we are.”

Just last year, the Sorghum Festival Club opted of its own accord to donate $35,000 to the Fire Department for equipment purchases there and sent $15,000 to Western North Carolina relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

It remains to be seen if the festival will be salvaged at this point. Online commenters have suggested moving it, but the club has definitively told vendors – now on the hook for booking the second and third weekends in October – that the event is “permanently shut down.”

In response to the controversy, County Manager Tony Hughes posted the following statement to the Union County Manager Facebook page Sunday evening:

“On Tuesday, Feb. 11, our staff met with (a) Blairsville Sorghum Festival representative. She wanted to know if they still had our support for the Sorghum Festival, stating that they had not had a lot of help in the past.

“We offered to help with vendors, man the gate, etc., if that would lighten the load on the organization. If so, the funds could go towards Parks and Recreation. Absolutely no funds were demanded.

“We were left with the impression we were on good terms and they would speak with their members and let us know what decision they made. Until vendors contacted me and the social media stir-up, we have not heard anything back from the Sorghum Festival Representatives!

“If the organization feels led to continue as they have in the past, I assure you our office will support the Blairsville Sorghum Festival 100% as we have in the past as always by providing Meeks Park at no charge, UCSO, EMS, UCRD, Park & Rec, etc.”