South Dakota Chislic Festival underway
Plans are underway for the 2021 South Dakota Chislic Festival that will take place on July 31 at the Prairie Arboretum in Freeman, SD. The SDCF board of directors and their committee members have been planning a chislic-filled day with activities, entertainment, food and beverages for chislic-fans of all ages. The 2021 festival will have new features not previously included in the earlier festivals as a result of feedback the board has received from festival goers. Board President, Jay Hofer shared the vision for the festival which drives the board’s planning decisions “We want to develop the South Dakota Chislic Festival into the region’s premier food festival by providing an amazing experience throughout the festival”.
The first South Dakota Chislic Festival was held at the Freeman Softball Field and Swimming Pool Park on July 28, 2018. The inaugural festival had vendors from across the Chislic Circle selling not only the featured “state nosh” chislic, but also festival fare along with six South Dakota craft brews. The entertainment included a chislic competition, bean bag tournament, sandcastle contest, bingo, volleyball tournament, kid-zone and live music. The response to the first festival was tremendous with a massive turnout of 8-10,000 chislic fans from all over the country fought through crowded parking and long lines to purchase the coveted 4,000 dozen chislic.
The 2019 festival board responded to the outpouring of fan support and criticisms by increasing the amount of available chislic and expanding the event footprint by changing location and duration. The board planned for 4-8,000 attendees and secured 10,000 dozen chislic. The festival was moved to the 40-acre Prairie Arboretum and scheduled to take place over eleven hours instead of the six hours in 2018. An expanded parking plan and a free trolley service to the festival grounds was offered. The board had hoped that spreading out the fans throughout the grounds and over mealtimes would create an improved atmosphere. The positive feedback they received demonstrated their success.
The festival board initiated their plans for the 2020 festival but officially canceled the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on feedback received from the earlier festivals, the 2021 board has planned a few changes to the festival. This year’s festival will start and end an hour later taking place between 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. The Entertainment Committee is also lining up a larger variety of entertainment options including their musical performers. A major change will be the new fundraising revenue stream from alcoholic beverages sales. The Freeman Fire Department will be serving the domestic beer. Unlike past years where multiple craft beer providers products were sold, the 2021 festival will include an exclusive craft beer provider. Sales of both types will create proceeds for future festival development and the selected non-profit beneficiaries.
This year’s exclusive craft beer provider and pourer is Ben’s Brewing Co. of Yankton, SD. The festival will sell drafts of the best-selling West Side Park IPA along with two other established craft beers and debut a new draft currently being developed for the 2021 festival. Their proprietor, Ben Hanten is enthusiastic to partner for this year’s festival, “We’re excited to partner with a neighboring community on an amazing event.” His team is developing a new beer recipe to pair perfectly with the chislic. “We’re looking at something light in body and color and that is about the alcohol content of a typical light beer. But we’re experimenting with garlic and salt to find the right beer for pairing.”
The festival board is confident that chislic fans will enjoy the traditions continued into 2021 and will find something new that they hope will become a new festival tradition. Additional information on the 2021 festival is available on the South Dakota Chislic Festival website at www.sdchislicfestival.com or through their social media pages.
The New Era - 5.6.21