Celebrating all things liver mush

The city of Shelby’s one-a-kind liver mush festival drew in crowds of people Saturday in a tradition that has been taking place for more than 30 years.

With perfect weather, fun activities and pets in costumes, the 2022 Mush, Music & Mutts Festival had something for everyone - even those who aren’t mush fans.

People had a chance to watch a liver mush eating competition and a pet costume contest as well as listen to local musicians play.

Emily Epley, Cleveland County Travel and Tourism director, said she is still waiting on the final numbers to come in, but in 2019, there were 12,000 festival attendees, and “this clearly surpassed those numbers.”

She said she would have more information in the coming days but that the feedback from vendors has been positive.

“Numerous vendors came over to tell me how good it had been for their business and thanked us, and said they’d like to participate next year too,” Epley said.

One of the liver mush cooks was unable to attend the festival at the last minute because of a loss in the family, which meant a shortage of staff and only one vendor present.

“While we were disappointed they were not able to participate, they were exactly where they needed to be,” Epley said.

In addition to Mack’s, several local restaurants offered liver mush options on the menu, including Tiny T’s food truck, Newgrass, Shelby Cafe and Pleasant City Wood Fired Grille.

This year, the festival included a cook off and recipe contest at Greenbrook Design, and Epley said this will be an annual addition.

She said they already have great ideas for 2023 for additional mush vendors and more visibility.

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Shelby's annual festival celebrates regional food and music