Tennessee Tomato Festivals in 2023: Where, When and More to Find a Tomato Festival Near You!

Looking for a Tomato festival in December 2023? There is no other listing as complete and current as this list, just updated! Tomato festivals are held through the United States, Canada, Britain, and Australia and much of the world. All the Tomato festivals we can find are listed on this page! If you love tomatoes, look for a festival near you below! And I'm looking for more Tomato festivals! Please write me, if you know of any to add!  I update the dates as soon as the festivals publish their information, but you can always click on the links (usually the name of the festival) to see the current information on the festival's own website. 

Especially this year, due to Coronavirus, be sure to click on the links (the blue, underlined name of the each festival) to confirm this year's dates on the website for each festival. If they don't have a website, call the phone number provided, but ALWAYS CONFIRM THIS YEAR'S DATES AND TIMES BY EITHER VIEWING THEIR WEBSITE OR CALLING.

Click here for the form to add a festival and have detailed information; or click here if you have general information and are not connected with the event!

Tennessee 2023Tomato Festivals Festivals - Where, When and More Details!

Tennessee

Tomatoes are a warm and hot weather crop, and typically are locally harvested from, July to October. There are two general types of Tomato festivals 1) community festivals, usually organized by a church, school, local Chamber of commerce or a town and 2). Tomato festival held at and by a farm

They are different in what they offer, so they are grouped separately. (of course not all states and areas have both. And following the festival listings are links to our easy to follow directions about making Tomato jam, freezing Tomatoes, Tomato pies and much more. 

Community Tomato Festivals

• Tomato Arts Festival - the first week of August Tomato Art Fest returns August 10th and 11th, 2018 for the 15th year!
  5 Points, East Nashville, TN. There are bloody mary contests, best tomato art contests, costume contests, etc... Some of the tomato stuff is really quite compelling other stuff is just hilarious. Very little of it is county fair kind of stuff. It's in the 5 points area so there are lots of exhibits and participating businesses to visit. The festival celebrates all things tomato and tomato related, with a variety of events and activities catering to all ages. The site for the festival is East Nashville's popular 5 Points area and all the local businesses there take part. There are tomato and tomato product (like salsa, soups etc.) tastings at the Turnip Truck and tomato martinis at 3 Crow Bar. A lot of places do demonstrations ranging from cooking to art projects, making the festival highly interactive. Located in Historic East Nashville's Five Points, this free, costume-encouraged event provides a wildly entertaining, fun-filled day for all types and all-ages. A community builder, Tomato Art Fest has steadily drawn larger crowds with each passing year. In 2017, an estimated 60,000 came to celebrate this beloved fruit / vegetable and enjoy the day's memorable festivities.
• Grainger County Tomato Festival - 26 years running, The festival is always the last full weekend in July; l, July 27, 28, & 29 2018, Hours: Friday 27 noon to 8pm, Saturday 28 9am to 6pm, Sunday 29 noon to 5pm
  7480 Rutledge Pike, Rutledge, Tn 37861. Phone:  865-828-4848. Email: n4ph@charter.net. The Grainger County Tomato Festival has a wide variety of entertainment for your enjoyment all weekend. From Bluegrass to Elvis, from clogging to line dancing. With so much to choose from, you might want to visit all three stages. Be sure to verify out the entertainment line up for each stage when we get closer to festival time.  Our mission is to promote all Grainger County agricultural products, specifically the Grainger County Tomato, and to promote the many local artists, authors, talent, and craftsmen we have in our area. Over the years we have added a number of special events making the festival one of the largest free festivals in East Tennessee and has been named by Parade magazine as one of the top ten festivals in the USA.
• Lauderdale County Tomato Festival - Mid July - see their website for this year's dates.
  Ripley, Tennessee. In addition to a tomato contest and an attempt to break the record for the "World's Longest 'Mater Sandwich", festival events have included carnival rides, an exhibit of "special treasures", and a display of antique cards. The festival began in 1984, being held at the town square. Events have included local talent, tomato tasting, and fun activities for children. The festival will offer a variety of events to please the tastes of most any age. It will include a Carnival, Arts and Crafts, Food, Main Stage Entertainment, Golf Tournament,
  Tomato Tasting, Baby Crawling Contest, Petting Zoo, Saturday Salad, Action Pistol Shooting
  Contest, 5K Run/Walk and a Chamber Coffee hosted by the City of Ripley . The headliner on
  Saturday night from 8-11 p.m. is "Burning Las Vegas." The festival will also showcase local talent at various times. To sign up, call the Chamber at 635-9541. The festival will be held at the City Park in Ripley located on Mary
  Roberts Drive (right off Hwy 51 S). The festival is sponsored by the Lauderdale Chamber/ECD.

Farm Tomato Festivals

In addition to community and church festivals, some private farms have their own tomato festivals in June.  See each farm for this year's dates (they often do not announce them until the end of May). They usually have PYO Tomatoes then, too.  Also, scroll down to see the links to recipes, freezing, canning and jam making directions at the bottom of the page.

• We will be adding these as we find them;  Please write me, if you know of any to add!

 

Related Tomato Information: Freezing, making Jam, Canning, Pies, Recipes and More

Also, see our pages on easy illustrated Tomato directions:

Canning tomatoes (in water bath canners )

• How to can tomatoes using a water bath canner - W
• Diced, chopped or crushed tomatoes - W
• Tomato sauce - W
• Tomato paste - W
• Barbecue sauce (BBQ sauce) - W
• Chili sauce from your own tomatoes and peppers - W
• Diced, chopped or crushed tomatoes - W
• Tomato Preserves- W
• Tomato salsa - W
• Spaghetti sauce - without meat - W, P
• Spiced Green tomatoes- W
• Pickled Green Tomatoes - W - another pickled green tomato recipe, this one sweet
• Ketchup.. or if you prefer... How to make catsup - W, P
• NEW! SUPER-EASY homemade ketchup recipe
• Salsa from your unripe, GREEN tomatoes! - W
• Tomatillo salsa - W
• How to make roasted tomatoes, boiling water bath canner version - W

Canning Tomatoes in Pressure canners

• Canned tomatoes using a Pressure Canner - P
• NEW!Baked  Beans With Tomato or Molasses Sauce - P
• Canning your own chili con carne (with meat) - P
• How to make roasted tomatoes, pressure canner version - P
• Spaghetti sauce - with meat  - P
• Stewed tomatoes - P
• Tomato soup or tomato-basil soup - P
• Tomato sauce - P
• Tomato juice - P
• Tomato juice, like V8 - P

Freezing Tomatoes

• How to freeze tomatoes from you garden or the farm; for that fresh taste this winter!

For other fruit and vegetable festivals, see this page!