WEST POINT, IOWA -- For 58 years, the people of West Point, Iowa have celebrated a well known midwest crop... corn. This year, more than 17 tons of corn came from Rockford, Illinois to make the Sweet Corn Fest possible.
The five day celebration began Wednesday with Shuckfest.
Corn dogs, popcorn, and, of course, sweet corn... It's definitely sweet corn fest in West Point, Iowa. But how do they cook all that corn? It's a unique process that starts off with an antique thresher steam engine.
"That provides the steam power which then we pipe underground to the corn cooker to my right here," said food chairman Jay Walker.
The cooker basically becomes a big pot of boiling water. They submerge the corn like you would at home, for 8-10 minutes.
"Then we have another vat that has a butter solution in there, so we pre-butter the corn for everybody," Walker said.
Then the ears of sweet corn go into a warmer before being served. You can top it off with a little salt if you'd like and your perfect corn on the cob is ready to eat. This year, more than 17 tons of corn will be served. And people had only good things to say about it.
"How's the corn tasting? It tastes really good. It's tasting really good."
There are other parts of Sweet Corn Fest to check out like arts and craft booths. The carnival rides continue through the day Sunday. They also serve more food than just corn. They have an impressive amount of chicken, along with other carnival foods. The chicken and corn will be served starting at 11:00 a.m. The carnival starts shortly after that at 11:30. The biggest event on Sunday is the Sweet Corn Festival Parade. That begins at noon followed by the mini garden tractor pull at 2:30 p.m.
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