Ham & Turkey Festival Committee shares final reports, brainstorms for next year

A large crowd lines the street of uptown California, Mo., to enjoy the craft booths and talented musical styles of local musicians Sept. 21, 2019, for the Ozark Ham & Turkey Festival.
A large crowd lines the street of uptown California, Mo., to enjoy the craft booths and talented musical styles of local musicians Sept. 21, 2019, for the Ozark Ham & Turkey Festival.

Members of the Ozark Ham & Turkey Festival Committee, chaired by Brad Baer, met Monday to share final reports about the recent event and brainstorm ideas looking forward to next year's 30th edition.

Overall, as previously reflected by California's Chamber of Commerce, the committee agreed this year's festival resulted in a fairly successful turnout despite the rainy weather. Community feedback also points to this year's musical entertainment being a success - the committee reported the South Stage, which played host to Columbia's Burney Sisters and the Sheltered Reality Drumline, drew a lot of attention throughout the day. At the other end of the festival, attendees reportedly requested more seating for the North Stage's school-based groups' performances, based on the size of the crowds observing throughout the day.

Alongside these successes came a host of areas the committee agreed could potentially have gone better or could be improved on for next year. Specifically, Baer said the festival's car show is "in limbo" following this year's festival - car show participants overwhelmingly prefer the show's original setting at the Moniteau County Fairgrounds, so the committee is considering moving it back. The hope is such a change would result in a higher amount of car show entries.

The committee also reported spending a little bit more on festival T-shirts than the profit received from shirt sales - as a result, the committee agreed it should continue selling the remaining stock at the Chamber office, and might work on facilitating some giveaways in the near future.

In regards to anticipated changes for 2020, the committee considered the state of Missouri's upcoming bicentennial anniversary, and perhaps integrating that event with the festival's 30th anniversary logo.

The committee also discussed an anticipated shift to a more standardized social media approach. Members of the committee mentioned positive feedback from vendors regarding the festival's social media presence, but visibility and accessibility can be a bit affected by the multiple event pages that currently exist from festival years past.

The new Eagles building - with an estimated opening date next year around January or February could function as a good rain site for parts of the festival that were rained out this year, the committee agreed.