History with ‘Hud’: How the North Carolina Blueberry Festival grew into a major Burgaw attraction
BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — Burgaw’s annual Blueberry Festival is set to celebrate 20 years this Friday and Saturday at the town’s historic square.
While the family-friendly event has been going strong since the early 2000s, blueberries have been a booming business in the area for nearly 100 years.
The fruit first began being cultivated in Pender county during the 1930s, though blueberries have grown wild in the region for centuries. Harold Graham Huntington is credited with introducing the organized growing process to Pender County. He arrived in 1928, going on the created the largest blueberry farm in the world by 1939, spanning around 140 acres.
The area hasn’t slowed down with the blueberry craze since. In 2003, Burgaw-native and former mayor Pete Cowan brainstormed ideas with town leaders for how to bring more people to the small town. One person suggested a festival. It just so happens the idea struck during blueberry season, which generally runs each year from May through July, leading to the creation of the Blueberry Festival.
With the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to COVID, the event has been held each year since 2003, marking the significance blueberries have played to the region. What began as a simple, fun idea has grown into one of the areas most looked-forward-to attractions, drawing nearly 40,000 people to the Pender County town each third Saturday of June.
