Logan County Tobacco & Heritage Festival is a week-long event ending on the 2nd Saturday in October. A sample of events include the Jesse James 5K, Craft and Flea Market, Free Concerts in the Square and the Parade. Please see our Schedule of Events for a complete listing of times and locations.
The Festival had its beginning in 1941, a one-day event coinciding with the opening of tobacco markets and the Christmas shopping season. Sponsored by the Russellville downtown merchants, it was conceived as an annual event but ceased after 1942 because of World War II priorities. In 1957 the Festival was revived by the Chamber of Commerce and has continued annually uninterrupted. The length has stretched from one to eight days, often with related activities before and following. The purpose of the Festival has grown from focusing attention on Logan County's chief crop and its importance to the economy to include also progress in other areas and recognition of and appreciation for our rich heritage. The name was altered in 2002 to Tobacco & Heritage Festival to reflect more accurately its overall intent. New events have been added through the years, varying in their longevity, but some have remained as traditional: The Festival Queen's Beauty Pageant, Tobacco Show, Rotary Club Pancake Breakfast, Taster's Luncheon at the United Methodist Temple, Historic Tours, Reenactment of the 1868 Bank Robbery by the Jesse James Gang and the big culminating Parade. Greatly enjoyed in the past have been the Big Show of farm and garden produce, the Colonial Tea, the Outhouse Race, and Tobacco Spitting Contest.
The Festival has become more and more a homecoming time with both planned and informal reunions of friends, family and former residents.Rightly recognized as the biggest happening of the year, the Festival continues because of the dedication and cooperation of untold numbers of citizens throughout Logan County who give their time and support to planning and carrying out the plans.
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