Parker County Peach Festival in Weatherford

PARKER COUNTY PEACH FESTIVAL

In Texas any excuse for a festival is a good excuse. Parker County has a few peach orchards. These orchards produce peaches sold only in Texas, mostly north Texas, mostly in Parker County. The peaches do provide a good reason to have a fun festival in Weatherford, the county seat of Parker County. The Peach Festival takes place in the blocks surrounding the downtown Weatherford Parker County Courthouse.

CLICK HERE FOR A MAP WITH DIRECTIONS TO THE PEACH FESTIVAL LOCATION

AS OF JANUARY 1, 2008 DURANGO TEXAS IS BLOGGING

Parker County Peach Festival
Saturday, July 12, 2008
8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Location: Historic Downtown Square
Weatherford, Texas

Weatherford hosts the 2008 Annual Peach Festival on Saturday, July 12th. This year's festival features more than 200 arts and crafts vendors. Come to the Peach Festival in Weatherford’s historic downtown, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. You will find a children’s area, a food court, non-stop entertainment, and of course sweet, juicy Parker County Peaches. Beat the heat with Peachy treats of all kinds - Peach ice cream, Peach juleps, Peach smoothies, Peach cobbler, Peach jams, and just plain ol' Peaches to bite and let the juice run down your chin. Admission is $5 for adults and FREE for children 12 and under. There will be free parking from the Ninth Grade Center (1007 S. Main St.) Exit 408, Weatherford College (225 College Park Dr) Exit 409, and the First Monday Grounds (100 Block Santa Fe) Exit 409. Free Shuttle services are available from these sites as well. Free handicap parking and handicap shuttle from Weatherford Ninth Grade Center. The Peach Pedal Bike Ride is on July 14th. Visit www.peachpedal.com for more information. Call the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce for more information: Toll Free 1-888-594-3801.

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The county courthouse in Weatherford is among the most interesting in the north Texas zone, along with Granbury and Waxahachie.

If you were to rely on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as your main source of info you would think that Fort Worth has the only Public Market in Texas, as that newspaper has promoted Fort Worth's new Santa Fe Public Market as the first in Texas and as being modeled after Seattle's Pike Place Market. It was pointed out to the Star-Telegram that 30 miles to the east, Dallas has a Farmer's Market much like Pike Place in Seattle, and 20 miles to the west of Fort Worth, Weatherford has a Public Market which is much more like Seattle's Pike Place than the little market that recently opened in downtown Fort Worth.

Making Peach Plop Pie at the Peach Festival.

Here we see a cook preparing a batch of Peach Plop Pie, keeping it churned up for a 2 o'clock date with a group of 12 scheduled to bob for numbered peach pits to gain some very good prizes, such as trips, money and big screen TVs. We will see this event at the end of our visit to the Parker County Peach Festival.

An excellent example of Texas Big Hair.

The Parker County Courthouse in Weatherford.

A monster on the left and a monster of a courthouse in the center.

A vendor selling paintings on corrugated steel.

This festival attracts some very good artisans. Here we see some paintings on corrugated steel.

It is July in Texas. So it is hot. As it is at any public event during the hot season there are cooling methods. Here we see a walk through cooling mister.

Peach Julep. It was good.

The Parker County Peach Festival had 4 music venues. In this one it appears that a little girl is singing for some cowboys.

Selling Peach Cobbler to the festival goers.

Now it is time for some Peach Cobbler.

This overly tall cowboy seems to appear at many events in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Another misting and cooling opportunity.

It is time for another misting. Very convenient how these appear regularly to cool you off just when you start to overheat.

A passive anti-solar radiation device in the form of an umbrella.

Others have other methods of keeping cool. Here we see the umbrella method, appropriately by a vendor of chilies from San Antonio.

Rocky Creek Metal Art from Jacksboro, Texas.

Another example of the special vendors attracted to this festival.

We've had Peach Julep and Peach Cobbler. Now it's time for some Peach Ice Cream. It is homemade, the old-fashioned method, and demand outruns supply every year.

These special Texas wind chimes are outlawed in some communities.

More music at the Parker County Peach Festival.

Another music venue with a very young listener.

Here we see a view of a few of a very large music ensemble playing some sort of rock music. They were very good. The first photo is from inside the tent. The second photo is the same view, but from outside the tent.

Too many people, not enough tent, listening to some Peach Festival singers.

Yet one more mister cooling off Peach Festival visitors.

That music was hot so it's time for another cooling in another walk through mister before we get to the peach pit diving.

Here we see one of the peach pit divers after retrieving a pit. The mix of peaches, sugar and water was very slippery and had begun to ferment by the time the pit diving began.

And here we see the final peach pit diver with the Weatherford Court House behind her. And with that it is time to leave the Parker County Peach Festival.

We hope the heat and the Peaches didn't tire you out too much.

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