Organizers planning for June 24’s Red, White & Blueberry Festival
Page 4 • Wednesday, June 6, 2018 • The Hammonton Gazette
FESTIVAL, from Page 1
grounds uptown at the corner of the
White Horse Pike (route 30) and
Old forks road from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. on Sunday, June 24.
the family-friendly event will
feature nearly 70 food vendors and
crafters, inflatable and mechanical
kiddie rides, a large collection of
vintage vehicles hosted by Cruisin’
Classics auto Club, live music
from energetic local band Stealing
Savannah, DJ entertainment from
festival host and Hammonton
native 98.1 WOGL’s Nick “Nicky
G.” Giorno, a blueberry pie-eating
contest, a pancake breakfast
courtesy of the Hammonton
Kiwanis Club from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
and naturally, more than 14,000
pints of freshly-picked blueberries
from six different Hammonton
farms, all of which will be hauled
in on a refrigerated truck and may
be gone before the day’s end,
weather permitting.
“it’s all based on the weather that
day, and the weather dictates the
crowd. it’s too hot, or if it’s raining,
the crowd’s not there. Or, the
crowd comes out early and if it gets
hot, they leave. But, normally by 3,
almost everything is sold out,”
John Garrison, a member of the
Chamber’s red, White and
Blueberry festival planning
committee, said.
the red, White and Blueberry
festival has consistently evolved
and grown over the past 32 years.
it used to be held on the grounds of
St. Joseph High School on Vine
Street and Hammonton Middle
School on Liberty Street but its
footprint has since expanded
tenfold, according to Greater
Hammonton
Chamber
of
Commerce executive Director
John runfolo, who was an
inaugural member of the volunteer
committee the puts the festival
together every year.
runfolo said the red, White and
Blueberry festival has become a
hallmark annual event not just in
Hammonton, but all of southern
New Jersey.
“it has become a standard in
South Jersey; it’s well- known, it’s
appreciated by many people and
it’s an earmark for our town. it
supports the trademark that
Hammonton is a great place to live,
work and play, which is what we
support at the Chamber of
Commerce,” runfolo said.
this year’s festival will feature a
special guest in Carmen Cincotti, a
Mays Landing native who holds
several Major League eating
(MLe) records and recently
devoured 60 hot dogs in 10 minutes
to finish second behind competitive
eating legend Joey Chestnut (72
hot dogs) during the 101st Nathan’s
annual famous international Hot
Dog eating Contest, which took
place on the fourth of July last year
in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Cincotti has been to the festival
before, and will return this year to
showcase how many miniature
blueberry cannoli he can eat in five
minutes—a feat that runfolo isn’t
sure there is a world record for, but
one he said the town will embrace
anyway.
“We’re going to say it’s a world
record just like we say we’re the
‘Blueberry Capital of the World,’”
runfolo said.
Mannino’s Cannoli express will
be providing the cannoli that
Cincotti will wolf down during the
festival. Gabriella Mannino, owner
of Cannoli express perfected her
blueberry cannoli recipe at the red,
White and Blueberry festival
shortly
after
she
began
volunteering in 2009. Since then,
Mannino’s blueberry cannoli has
become a highly-acclaimed treat
during the festival, which she said
is a unique and unifying
community event.
See BLUEBERRY, Page 10
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