SUFFOLK, Va. – The 44-th annual Suffolk Peanut Festival came to an end Sunday evening.
While numbers were still being tallied for Sunday’s crowds, festival organizers said they had a record turnout Saturday.
“I noticed the traffic, how much traffic it was just getting into here,” said Tiffany Folkers of Chesapeake. “There was a lot of people here yesterday, which is why we decided to come early today to hopefully beat some of that.”
Peanut Festival Publicity Coordinator Theresa Earles said the sunny weather helped to bring in big crowds to the Suffolk Executive Airport.
“We had a record-breaking Saturday,” she said. “We're estimating about 40,000 people came through the fest site in the 13 hours we were open on Saturday.”
Typically, Earles said the festival sees a total of about 60,000 people over the four-day event.
“What’s most important is that this supports the community,” said Earles. “It’s a community-based event that is in turn produced by the community. The entire festival is produced by 200 volunteers.”
The Peanut Fest offers some fun for everyone. Sunday, many people came to watch the Peanut Cup Race where cars race each other on a track made of mud.
“I enjoy most of the games they have,” said 12-year- old Camyron Valentine. “They have a lot of different ones. We play the ones to win stuffed animals.”
There are also plenty of rides and festival food staples.
“It’s fun to have something to do, get out of the house,” Folkers said. “[It’s] something different.”
Of course, there are plenty of free peanuts.
