Stinkfest Is A Unique Community Event
Grinding horseradish game Stinkfest attendees a fresh taste of the pungent condiment.
Fremont, Iowa – In its second year, Stinkfest has people talking about what some may have considered a weed, but a delicious condiment to others.
Dixie Albertson with Fremont’s Stinkfest spoke about how the community event came to be.
“Stinkfest was dreamt up in early 2018 by a group of local retirees,” said Albertson. [They] “wished to provide an event that both showcased and indulged all the truly unique interests and talents of Fremont while encouraging a greater sense of community. To further emphasize the off-beat theme of this event, the group decided to designate the forgotten but delicious (and often smelly) horseradish as our mascot, which then lead to the event name “Stinkfest.”
Albertson explained that the idea for Stinkfest was just a random idea “pulled up by a bunch of quirky folks.”
“The horseradish we did use, however, was harvested from the gardens of local residents who often mistaken it for a weed. They were happy to let us take it off their hands.”
Going forward, Albertson said the Stinkfest crew is always game for off-beat ideas that no one else would dare attempt. “That’s what makes this event so darn unique. Every year things change up a bit, and you never know what new thing you’ll get to experience or witness. We definitely plan to keep Stinkfest going as a yearly, fall event. We hope to continue growing our attendance every year and continue our experimentation with the unique.”
With the threat of rain in the forecast on Saturday, Albertson said the organizers “danced for joy and set up outdoors as planned. While a little windy and chilly at times, we still enjoyed the company of an impressive attendance. All who came stayed for a good amount of time and took in a number of different things at the event.”
“All our proceeds are invested right back into the community. Also, some of our most unique offerings this year included Dutch Oven cooking, a room full of miniatures, horseradish grinding, a flea-market flip auction, and chicken BINGO,” added Albertson.
