Exactly two months away from the Trigg County Country Ham Festival, Renaissance On Main Director Brianna Hyde confirmed Wednesday afternoon that no booth space remains for the highly-anticipated pig party.
She also said only 20 “or so” vendors still need to pay, and registrations for spots is up 75-plus registered and paid from last year.
Hyde noted the food vendors will be “mostly together” for this year, with four specific locations designated: near Cadiz City Hall, near the Trigg County Justice Center, near the Cadiz Baptist Church Annex and the West Cadiz Park.
Vendors at the West Cadiz Park, meanwhile, will be able to remain in the park for as long as the carnival is in town — meaning they will be here through that Sunday afternoon.
She plans on doing online “Vendor Spotlights” throughout the festival, too, so businesses get promoted “no matter their location” on the map.
One of the biggest questions remaining in these final eight weeks, however, is ample handicapped parking. It’s been a major talking point at every meeting since the 2023 celebration, and officials feel no closer to a solution now than they did eight months ago.
The heart of Cadiz, and the festival, resides on a hill. Many of its flattest locations are either reserved for a sprawl-and-crawl embracing local, regional and national visitors, or are located so far downhill that they render those needing physical support and transport ease more frustrated.
Furthermore, Hyde, through Cadiz Police interim Chief Tyler Thomas, have iterated that every parking spot made available needs to actually be counted as two — so that chair lifts and similar structures are properly accounted.
Any use of the Cadiz Baptist Parking lot, following the annual car show, has yet to be approved.
In other festival news:
— MedTransit remains locked in for shuttling services to and from the downtown area. More details, and a schedule, will come at a later date.
— Hyde said the Cadiz Record insert for the ham hangout will be made available to the public by September 28, two Thursdays prior to the festival.
— More than $33,000 has been collected from sponsorships, with more potentially on the way.
— Band boosters and Trigg County cheer will once again be involved with the festival pageant.
— And there is a possibility of a “mullet competition” between musical acts. Local citizens should prepare their “Kentucky Waterfalls” accordingly.
