The Ozark Ham and Turkey Festival came roaring back for 2022. A larger increase in participation from vendors, attendees and organizers signals the festival is continuing on the right path to the California City Chamber of Commerce.
Chamber Executive Secretary Sandra Ratcliff said the organization is very pleased with this year's attendance.
The Democrat previously reported on the Chamber's enthusiasm gaining thirty new vendors on top of the initial 50 set to participate.
Although not all of the crowd's population could be attributed to vendors, it does provide a guage for the Chamber to measure the continuing interest in the event. Ratcliff noticed many attendees stayed at the festival longer and participated in more events throughout the day than previously expected.
"All the events had a good number of participants as well," Ratcliff said. "We had all vendors show up but four. It was just a good day I would say all the way around. We had more in the 5k (Walk/Run event), we had more cars in the car show and we had more vendors. And I'm almost positive the crowd was bigger."
Vendors, shows, games and much more brought in numbers of people the Chamber is happy to see active in the area. Ratcliff said the idea of the festival is to raise funds for the community that the chamber can spend on the community.
The success of this year's Ozark Ham and Turkey Festival showed the Chamber the event is not losing anybody's interest. Despite its cancellation in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, the festival's momentum seems to keep moving forward and support can be seen throughout California from residents.
"(The Chamber) would want to thank everyone for whatever they did to help with (the festival) or for coming," Ratcliff said. "For putting out their fall decorations in their yards or making sure their yard looks nice and things like that. Just mainly for coming in helping and for showing up."
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See additional photos from the event on page 8A of the Sept. 21, 2022, print and digital edition of the California Democrat.
Democrat photo/Kaden Quinn: The 2022 Ozark Ham and Turkey Festival remains a popular event in California as guests flow in from throughout mid-Missouri.
Democrat photo/Kaden Quinn: The 2022 Ozark Ham and Turkey Festival remains a popular event in California as guests flow in from throughout mid-Missouri.