Delmarva Chicken Festival to return after nine-year absence — what to know about all the fun
After a nine-year break, the Delmarva Chicken Festival will return just in time for the centennial anniversary of the poultry industry starting on the Eastern Shore.
The festival will take place Oct. 7 from 1-7 p.m. at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, with free admission.
Attractions at the 2023 Delmarva Chicken Festival will include local food trucks, vendors, historical and educational exhibits, children’s activities and more. Live music will be performed throughout the day by The Jones Boys, Jimmy Charles and Mike Hines & The Look.
"This year represents the 75th anniversary of the organization, and its origin ties back to a chicken festival, with our original name being Delmarva Chicken Festival, Inc.," said Zach Evans, DCA board president. "This festival will share who we are and where we come from and where we're going for the next 100 years. Most of us know that less than 2% of Americans grow our food and many of our neighbors don't know the process to take it from farm to table."
Proceeds from the festival will go to the Delmarva Chicken Association Scholarship program, dedicated to assisting those looking to go into the poultry industry. The organization noted that in 2022, the Eastern Shore raised 596 million chickens and processed 4.4 billion pounds of poultry.
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That contributed to a gross domestic product of $5 billion for the chicken industry.
"This is going to be a great way to celebrate our chicken community and to accelerate the backbone of our industry in our growers," Evans said.
A sense of community among Eastern Shore poultry growers
Mary Lou Brown, a grower from Dorchester County recalled fond memories of past festivals, down to the iconic 10-foot skillet that spawned numerous photo opportunities.
"I remember so many chicken festivals and attended them regularly, and my family made an entire weekend of it," Brown said. "My children definitely had a great time and there were always other growers there. At festivals, we always wanted to share how we raise chickens. My children and I still tend to our six chickenhouses, so it's still a family operation. Technology has made it so that we could do a better job."
The event initially ran from 1948 to 2014 before being discontinued. Since then, the Eastern Shore industry has grown to 1,334 growers, according to the DCA.
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Delmarva's chicken industry was able to increase production by 38% in the past decade even as the number of chickenhouses in operation during that time dropped by 11%, and inflation-adjusted feed ingredient costs more than doubled, per DCA numbers.
"We care about the chicken we raise the environment around us. We also share the rivers and the bays with our families," Brown said.
This year, the group's “Growing For 100 Years” campaign celebrates the 100th anniversary of Delmarva’s chicken industry, which began in 1923 with a broiler flock raised by a grower in Ocean View.
That grower, Cecile Steele, pioneered the industry when she accidentally received a shipment of 500 chickens. This prompted her and her husband, Wilmer, to build the first broiler chicken farm on Delmarva. Within three years, this Delaware family had built coops for 10,000 chickens and jumpstarted an American innovation – a farm dedicated to raising chickens not for eggs, but to eat.
This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Delmarva Chicken Festival back to mark big Shore poultry anniversary
