It’s festival time in Burton, Texas! Time for the 33rd annual Burton Cotton Gin Festival, Saturday, April 23 on the grounds of the Texas Cotton Gin Museum. Watch history come alive in celebration of the 1914 Burton Farmers Gin, the oldest operating cotton gin in America, with a day of family fun from 10 a.m. until 6p.m.
The day kicks off with the main street parade which includes the 18th annual children’s bicycle parade, floats, tractors, classic vehicles, and more. Tour the interior of the historic gin from noon to 3 p.m. and watch the actual ginning and baling of cotton at 3 p.m. via live streaming at the audiovisual tent. Learn more about cotton history with a film also at the audiovisual tent. Tour the Wehring Shoe & Leather Shop starting at noon. Always a crowd favorite, the tractor-pull starts at noon as well. There will be a Tractor & Engine Show with demonstrations throughout the day. Experience history first-hand with folk life demonstrations such as blacksmithing, quilting, woodworking, and spinning.
Non-stop entertainment under the Roy Winkler Family Pavilion features dancing to local favorites, Sean Orr & Texas Gold (noon to 2:30 p.m.), the Jodie Mikula Orchestra (2:30 to 4 p.m.), and Black Cat Choir (4 to 6 p.m.). Shop 40+ craft vendors and enjoy 11 BBQ trailers and food trucks. The fun continues with contests for bubblegum blowing, pie-eating, and seed pulling. Kids and young-at-heart can enjoy a kids zone, crafts, antique tractors, engines, farm equipment, vintage cars, mule driven buggy rides, a farmer for a day area, and more.
Gates open at 10 a.m. and admission is free. Free parking is located at the Burton High School parking lot, only 3 blocks from the festival grounds with shuttles provided. Come have a cotton pickin’ good time!
This annual fundraiser supports the museum’s mission to preserve the history and the structure of the 1914 Burton Farmers Gin. The Burton Farmers Gin has been designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is recognized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, as a National Mechanical Engineering Landmark.
If you’d like more information, visit texascottonginmuseum.org, call 979-289-3378, or email programs@texascottonginmuseum.org.
Courtesy of the Burton Cotton Gin Museum
