SMITHFIELD – The Downtown Smithfield Development Corporation (DSDC) has announced the dates and preliminary details for the 38th Annual Ham & Yam Festival on Saturday, May 4th, from 10:00am until 7:00pm in Downtown Smithfield.
“This beloved community event that features tasty ham and yam foods (we really mean sweetpotatoes), entertainment, a variety of new artisan vendors, kids’ activities, and fun for the entire family will be centered around the newly renovated Neuse River Amphitheater and for the first time will offer local Johnston County breweries on Front and Third Streets”, stated John Bilott, Festival Organizer and Promotions Chair for DSDC.
Festivalgoers’ first Ham & Yam memories are often of things like having fun in the children’s area, enjoying a country ham biscuit, getting their faces painted, entering their artistic sweetpotato creations in the What’s That Yam Thing? contest, or performing as part of a school group on one of the stages. All the traditions of the Ham & Yam Festival will remain and the festival planning committee is excited to add to the fun. This year the popular What’s That Yam Thing? contest will include a special guest on-site to judge the entries.
The festival will be headlined by performances from Tuesday’s Gone, a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band on the Neuse River Amphitheater Stage from 5:30pm to 7:00pm. Entertainment at the Amphitheater and the Third Street stage will start at 10:30am with a variety of bands including Mickey Mills, a reggae band at 1:00pm, and additional bands playing bluegrass, as well as the Smithfield Selma High School Jazz Band and the Johnston County Chorale.
As the promotions committee continues to announce details of the festival there will be some familiar staples and some new changes for the event. Visitors to Downtown Smithfield will enjoy more ham and sweetpotato foods, as well as BBQ sandwiches for sale by the Smithfield Fire Department. Look for interesting new international flavors like ham & cheese or sweetpotato and lentil empanadas, unique ice cream and Italian ices, and the always very popular sweetpotato pie. Ham biscuits from the Kiwanis Club will be available with an expanded booth space to handle the demand.
The Ham & Yam Festival is organized by the nonprofit Downtown Smithfield Development Corporation, which is primarily funded by a Municipal Service District (MSD) and the Town of Smithfield.
Come and get you some ham…come and get you some yam…if you can’t stomach that then get you some Spam…
Hey remember to wear a face diaper and stay 6 ft apart. Crazy? It makes just as much sense now as it did then
Everyone believes a lie when they are sheeple. Now the elderly are scared to death. The young wear them to hide their identity. The Liberals wear them because they are brainwashed.