Festival History:

Watermelons have long been a calling card for the City of Hope. The Festival itself dates back to the mid-1920's when the city's Chamber of Commerce staged a one-day Festival each year. The early Watermelon Festivals bear little resemblance to the recent ones. During the 1920's-era festivals, citizens served ice-cold watermelon to passengers on the many trains which stopped in Hope. The festival also featured a "Watermelon Queen" pageant and a large parade. These early festivals brought upwards of 20,000 people in a day to Hope. The end to the first festivals came about 1931 when the city, suffering from the effects of the depression, could no longer accommodate the crowds.

**Photo Courtesy of the Hope Star** 1927 – Entry in the 1927 Parade. Mr. Lowthorp created the Hope market for giant watermelons through business and railroad convention contacts in the off-season. These men of Rocky Mound and Shover Springs supplied him with the giants for his sales. The group included four men who grew world record giant watermelons. Arthur Powell grew the winning melon for 1927 in the Rocky Mound community.

Hope celebrated its centennial in 1975. The event was a rousing success and local residents started thinking about another celebration. Local promoter and newspaper man C.M. "Pod" Rogers organized a new Watermelon Festival in 1977. The success of this first reorganized festival led to the event gaining annual status. Since the 1970's, the festival has continued to grow, attracting approximately 20,000 visitors to Hope over a three-day period.