BURTON COTTON GIN FESTIVAL HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND

  

Locals and visitors will be able to see America’s oldest operating cotton gin during the 28th annual Burton Cotton Gin Festival this weekend.

“The fact that we gin bales during the festival helps us keep the ‘oldest operating cotton gin in America’ status” says Stephanie Jarvis, Director at the Texas Cotton Gin Museum.

The cotton gin demonstration is just one of the many family activities planned for this weekend.

The festival begins tonight (Friday) with an all-you-can each shrimp boil and live auction at the Burton Community Center. Tickets for the event are already sold out.

Saturday kicks off with the Main Street Parade at 10 a.m. in downtown Burton.

Throughout the day, there will be food and craft booths, a children's barnyard, and an antique tractor show and pull. There will also be tours of the historic 1914 Burton Farmers Gin, tours Wehring Shoe Shop and Cotton Warehouse, folk life demonstrations, and antique engine exhibits.

Family activities and contests include a bubble gum blowing contest, pie eating contest, and cotton seed pulling contest. All these activities are free to attendees.

All the events on Saturday are free, but contributions to the museum are always welcome.

“We get a lot of folks that come out to help us celebrate the history of the site, to learn about it, and to help raise money” says Jarvis. “The money allows us to preserve and keep teaching the history of the site."

For more information about the festivities, visit cottonginmuseum.org.

KTEX’s Trail Boss Troy will be there Saturday broadcasting live from the Friendly Country Cruiser.