Department of Parks
2nd Annual Kentucky’s Fort Harrod Beef Festival Set For June 1-3

HARRODSBURG, Ky. – Who grills the best steaks or hamburgers? You can find out at the Second Annual Kentucky’s Fort Harrod Beef Festival to be held June 1-3 at Old Fort Harrod State Park and the Mercer County Fairgrounds in Harrodsburg.

On Friday, June 1, the festival will kickoff with a concert featuring Cross Canadian Ragweed at the Mercer County Fairgrounds, along with local bands and singers. The concert begins at 6 p.m. with the main concert scheduled to take the stage around 9 p.m. Tickets may be purchased before the show for $12 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.  Day of show tickets will be $15 for adults and $7 for children.  

The festival hits full stride June 2 with a juried arts and crafts fair at Old Fort Harrod State Park, featuring more than 50 exhibitors, steak and eggs breakfast, 5K race/walk, antique and classic car cruise in, live music, festival food, children’s activities, craft demonstrations, pony rides, pageants, Midlife Crisis live band, twilight tour of the fort, and much more.

Kentucky’s Fort Harrod Beef Festival signature event, a beef “grill off,” takes place Saturday at the Mercer County Fairgrounds. Teams will compete to produce the best brisket, steak, backyard burger and chili. There also is a youth back yard burger and steak category for those ages 9 to 17. Judges will determine the winners in the professional and amateur division, and a “People’s Choice” award will be presented. The cost is only $6 per person to sample all the wares and vote for the best.  A new addition for this year, a best show award, will be given to the team most creatively decorated grill-off-area.  Other events at the fairgrounds that same day include a roping event, corn hole tournament, chef demonstrations, display of various breeds of live cattle, and more. 

Also, on Saturday starting at 4 p.m., an old fashioned ice cream social and a showcasing of ambulances, limos and hearses will be at the Alexander and Royalty Funeral Home located at 304 East Lexington in Harrodsburg.

On Sunday, June 3, the juried arts and crafts show continues from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Old Fort Harrod State Park with more live entertainment, children’s activities, and a motorcycle cruise-in. The Kentucky State Flintlock Championship will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Mercer County Fish and Game Farm.  

The event commemorates Kentucky’s emergence as a cattle-producing state. For more details about the festival, please contact Joan Huffman at (859) 734-9614 or 734-3314 or LeMayne Ellis at (859) 734-5546.  Old Fort Harrod State Park, the Commonwealth’s first permanent settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains, is located on South College Street in Harrodsburg, 32 miles southwest of Lexington.  Mercer County Fairgrounds, the oldest continuous Fair and Horse Show in the United States, is located at 560 Linden Avenue in Harrodsburg.

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The Kentucky State Park System is composed of 53 state parks plus an interstate park shared with Virginia. The Department of Parks, an agency of the Commerce Cabinet, operates 17 resort parks with lodges -- more than any other state. Each year, Kentucky parks draw 7 million visitors and contribute $317 million to the economy. For more information on Kentucky parks, visit our Web site at http://www.parks.ky.gov