Grainger County Tomato Festival celebrates 31 years

RUTLEDGE, Tenn. (WATE) — They don’t call the Grainger County tomatoes “world renowned” for nothing; The tomatoes are huge and bring people from all over to Grainger County so they can get their hands on some of the finest produce there is.

The tomato is a seemingly simple produce product, but for Grainger County, it keeps the economy going. Farmers funnel millions of dollars into the counties economy.

“It’s big for the economy. They bring in about 10 million dollars to the county and it’s the number one crop in the county,” Grainger County Tomato Festival chairman Jan Morgan said. “It’s big, it helps with taxes and helps to support schools and all that.”

Steve Longmire of Tennessee Homegrown Tomatoes has been selling his tomatoes at the festival for 31 years. He says it’s always fun seeing people from all over coming to the festival.

“It’s great, it makes us happy. We do have the best tomato there is, so it’s good to see people come out,” Longmire said. “We’ve had customers coming here for years upon years and they know what they are going to get when they come.”

There’s something special about the tomatoes grown in Grainger County, but the farmers keep their growing secret to themselves and people all from all over know just how good they are.

“It’s the flavor you know, we can’t tell all the secrets. It’s the flavor and people like them,” Longmire said. “They cover a big area. We sell tomatoes into North Carolina, Ohio, New York, up next to Washington and of course locally. Grainger County tomatoes are known across a huge area.”

An event like this couldn’t go on without the help of the entire community.

“You just like to see success for everyone. It cost a lot of money to put this event on, maybe $25,000 or more,” Morgan said. “Our local people have been great to give donations, we’ve had sponsors that have been super to help us, if they didn’t we couldn’t do this because most of the people that do this, we aren’t paid.”

Tons of volunteers pour hours into making this event happen. The festival runs from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday where there is fun for the whole family.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side.