It is time for the annual Hope Watermelon Festival in Hope, Ark. Arts and crafts, great music, watermelon eating, seed-spitting contest and tons of booths. This is the 40th annual event and a weekend filled with fun you don't want to miss.

The festival is Thursday through Saturday, August 11 - 13. Admission into the festival is free and parking is only $3.

If you're a total stranger and have no clue what this festival is about then let me just tell you all about it. The Hope Watermelon Festival is a huge staple for the city. Watermelon is sold by the slice (and very large slices at that).

The festival itself actually dates back to the mid 1920s when the city staged a one-day annual festival. The Guinness Book of World Records certified in 2006 Arkansas' very own Lloyd Bright's 268.8 pound watermelon is indeed the world's largest watermelon to date and actually three have set world records in the past 35 years.

My mom, sister and I used to make it an annual event to walk around to see all of the booths. I used to enter the egg toss contests, barrel rolling and even a swim meet. For a list of the contests to enter or to get more information, contact Mark Keith at 870-777-3640 or visit the festival on Facebook.

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