Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Festival information may not be up to date due to COVID-19, but you can view our list of cancellations here. Go here to update it. Restrooms and free warm showers are available. We also butcher about 1,000 pounds of them each year that we actually cook on the spot.". Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. The two events are a marked contrast in how rattlesnakes are handled. The snakes skins will eventually show up on cowboy boots, belts and other western wear. If its the second weekend in March, that means its time for the Worlds Largest Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater. Begun in 1958 as a means for controlling the rattlesnake population in the area, the roundup has become a major annual driver for the Sweetwater economy. Rattlesnakes are fascinating, beautiful, but often feared and misunderstood creatures. Eugene De Leon Sr. died Saturday night from his injury at Rattlesnake Roundup in Freer. Depending on the weather, or even a pandemic, the towns population beginning Friday could swell from about 11,000 to nearly 40,000 through Sunday. (Courtney Sacco/Odessa American via AP, File), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. But on the first weekend after Easter, they become a platform for this tough annual raceThe Waynoka Rattlesnake Hunt. This does put us on the map, she said. There will be live music on Fri. and Sat. Click to reveal Copyright 2022 KCBD. Meat judges are needed, so feel free to volunteer. var username = "info"; We also butcher about 1,000 pounds of them each year that we actually cook on the spot., Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. The 63rd World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup - which also sees the crowning of a Miss Snake Charmer beauty queen - went ahead after the state lifted virtually all Covid restrictions last week. People of the small town of Claxton, Georgia transformed their rattlesnake roundup into the Claxton Rattlesnake and Wildlife Festival, a festival where they promote conservation and education instead of fear and misconceptions. There's even a pageant for local young women, Miss Snake Charmer. If you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241. They also show the huge divide in how they are seen by some, with the Georgia festival heralded by animal advocates and the Texas roundup shamed. It began 64 years ago to keep snakes from overtaking the town and attacking . Karen Hunt grew up in Sweetwater, and recalls fellow Texans asking her about her hometown. TX Join Festivalnet.com now to unlock additional details, , Copyright FestivalNet 2022. The weekend kicks off on Thursday with a rattlesnake parade, carnival . Exact attendance figures are unknown because many people such as children are admitted free, but I've heard anywhere from 7,000 to 15,000, said longtime volunteer Jeffrey Cox, who has been helping to organize the Whigham Rattlesnake Roundup for the past four decades. There was also a guided hunt on the outskirts of town, a carnival parade and a gun show. Several vendors, and swap meet vendors will be available around the park. The town of 11,000 is expected to swell to around 30,000 during the festival that runs Friday through Sunday, said Dennis Cumbie, one of the organizers. The town of 11,000 is expected to swell to around 30,000 during the festival that runs Friday through Sunday, said Dennis Cumbie, one of the organizers. A few rattlesnake roundups still persist, the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement full of scorn for the Texas festival, which is notorious for openly killing and skinning western diamondback rattlesnakes by the hundreds in front of crowds.. By accessing our site, you agree to the terms of Everfest's privacy policy. Rattlesnake roundups take 2 different approaches, drawing praise and scorn 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Karen Hunt grew up in Sweetwater, and recalls fellow Texans asking her about her home town. Sweetwater has held its rattlesnake roundup for more than six decades, "and what we have figured out over 64 years is that we're not damaging the population of the snakes whatsoever," Cumbie. While organizers say the snake hunters who bring in big rattlers get rid of nuisance reptiles, opponents say Eastern diamondback snakes are declining in population. Sweetwater Roundup is intertwined with the Black community and supports the fight for Justice and.... 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