Collinsville’s annual International Horseradish Festival is back

By Editor | May 26, 2024 |

by Devese “Dee” Ursery

COLLINSVILLE — Collinsville is known as “The Horseradish Capital of the World” and the City is preparing for its largest annual event.

The City would like to invite its residents and visitors from surrounding communities to come out to the 37th annual International Horseradish Festival. The two-day family-friendly event will take place in uptown Collinsville along Main Street. The Family Fun Area, where children can enjoy face painting will be open Friday, June 7, 11 am to 10 pm; Saturday, June 8, 10 am to 10 pm. Rain or shine, the fest will go on.

The 2024 International Horseradish Festival will feature Bounce houses and a video game truck, both of which will be located on South Center Street and the City Hall parking lot. Visitors can compete in the traditional Cornhole Tournament, which will take place both days, Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. There will be a fee of $30 per two-person team. There will also be a Root Tossing Contest to be held on Saturday, at 11 a.m. Both contests will take place on Clinton Street next to Miner’s Theater.

Also on Saturday there will be a root derby car race, car show in the Library Parking lot and a cornhole tournament on S. Clinton St. next to Miner’s Theater, according to Katie Slimmick, Executive Director Collinsville Chamber of Commerce.

There will be a variety of delicious foods and vendors each featuring a horseradish inspired dish, from Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches to wings. There will be something for everyone at the International Horseradish Festival. Foods With Horseradish and foods without.

“This year we have a packed street full of craft vendors, Business booths and food vendors. We are excited to have the Collinsville Shriners, The Sandwich Shop Diner, Goshen Theatre, Fairview Heights Elks, and more selling delicious food,” Slimick said.

“Dippidy Donuts and All Shook Up Lemonade will be back serving snacks and drinks, JR Kelly will have jars of horseradish sauce and horseradish roots for purchases and All Pro Tees will have the Festival souvenirs.”

The Miss and Mr. Annual Horseradish Festival Pageant will be held on the Laura Buick Stage at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. This is not a beauty pageant, it is a personality pageant. The 2024

Horseradish Festival Pageant is a non-professional contest open to all local girls and boys ages six Months to 16 years of age.

There are strict pageant regulations that contestant must abide by, such as: no fake eyelashes,no heavy makeup, no midriffs, no booty shorts, no wardrobe changes and nothing with fire.

The pageant components are as follows: contestants will have to read their aloud, it can be no longer than one paragraph. They must answer a fun fact question about horseradish. The fun fact will be first come, first serve and they will have a one-minute time limit to perform a talent.

All talent and songs must be approved.

The contestants will need to arrive by 3:30 PM dressed and ready to go. The two years of age and under contestants will need an escort. The escort must be stage ready in appropriate attire.

There is a $10 participation fee for all contestants. Contestants cannot hold a current local County or City title. Again this pageant is not a beauty competition, it is a personality pageant.

The International Horseradish Festival 5K is back for 2024. The race will take place at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 8 on Main Street for an in-person 5K. The Chamber Challenge will be featured at the Festival as well.

The Chamber Challenge is a two-race series consisting of the Horseradish Festival 5K in June and the Italian Fest 5K in September. Participants must compete in both events to receive a series finishers medal. Fees for the 5K are $30 if participants register between May 7 to June 7 and $35 on race day. Fee for the Chamber Challenge is $45 from May 7 to June 8.

The Festival brought in about 8,000 to 10,000 visitors to last year’s event who came out to celebrate and promote the number one commodity in this region. Officials hope the 2024 Festival surpasses those numbers.

On top of all of the featured activities, there will also be live music on both days of the event. On Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with Deluxe DJ’s and Entertainment and from 2-4 p.m. Aaron Wilkertson will perform. Closing out the night will be the Steve Ewing Band from 7-10 p.m. On Saturday, the Master Magician Magic Show will start at 12:30 p.m. Electrik Baby Powder will follow up the Magic Show form 2-5 p.m. and The Jason McAtee Band will close out the Festival from 7-10 p.m.

Approximately 60 percent of the world’s horseradish is grown in the Collinsville area. The Illinois Horseradish Growers Association includes close to a dozen farms in Madison and St. Clair counties, ranging from five to 500 acres of production. The area lies within the “American bottoms,” a Mississippi River basin with soils rich in potash, a nutrient that allows for healthy horseradish growth.

Nationwide, roughly 24 million pounds of horseradish roots are ground and processed each year to produce approximately 6 million gallons of prepared horseradish. Illinois produces the largest supply with Collinsville-based J.R. Kelly Co. being the nation’s top supplier, marketing an annual 10 million to 12 million pounds of roots- earning the nickname “The Horseradish House.”

There will be about 27 sponsors supporting the event, from Laura Automotive Group to J.R. Kelly company, “The Horseradish House”.

“The Festival is presented by the Collinsville Chamber of Commerce and our volunteer Committee,” Slimick said. “Our main sponsor for this year’s Festival is Laura Buick GMC with other big sponsors being Great Rivers and Routes and Enjoy Illinois.”

The Collinsville Chamber of Commerce partners and works with the City of Collinsville, Collinsville Parks and Rec, and the Collinsville Community Unit School District No.10 to make these Festivals safe, fun and community oriented, according to Slimick.

In the 35 years of the Horseradish Festival there have been 185,000 attendees to the event, with 6,000 horseradish roots being tossed within that time.