Whitesboro's Peanut Festival Turns 60 on a Main Street the Peanut Farms Built

"When I was a young girl growing up in Whitesboro, I went to school here, the area all around us was peanut farms, that was our main crop here." That is how Barbara Bailey, then president of the Whitesboro Chamber of Commerce, described the town to KTEN. In the same report, KTEN said peanut planting around Texoma is now mostly a thing of the past.

On Saturday, October 17, Whitesboro holds its 60th Annual Peanut Festival anyway. The Chamber still says the day exists to "honor local farmers and celebrate the annual Peanut Harvest." KTEN reported that peanut farms are now rare in the area, with a few still grown near Collinsville. What the festival honors today is the downtown those peanut farmers helped start, and the record shows that has been true for a long time.

One Farmer's Fields Went to Hay

KTEN's clearest picture of the change came from Collinsville farmer Keith Welch. His father started planting peanuts after World War II. Welch once had hundreds of acres in them, but by the time KTEN visited, his main crop was hay. The turning point was federal policy. Welch sold his peanut quota allotment in 1997. After the quota system ended, he told KTEN, prices fell to about $300 a ton, "and you can't raise them for that and make a profit."

He went a decade without peanuts, then planted 22 acres again because so few growers were left. He sells that crop to a company in Madill. KTEN also reported that he now spends much of his time baling hay for horse farms.

The Texas State Historical Association's entry on peanut culture helps explain why the crop never had a strong hold here in the first place. Peanuts do best in well-drained sandy soil over a frost-free season of about five months. The counties TSHA names as the state's early leaders were Lamar, Fannin, Red River, and Jones. It lists Fannin among the top ten in 1972, and Grayson does not appear on either list. In Welch's telling, peanuts were worth growing while they paid. When they stopped paying, his acreage went to hay.

The Festival Was Built Around Main Street From the Start

The earliest newspaper records show the festival was about more than the crop. In April 1966, the Whitesboro News-Record announced the first annual Peanut Festival for October 6 through 8. It would replace the town's annual Community Fair and be held at the high school gymnasium and football stadium. That September, the paper described a downtown parade, homemaking, art and flower shows, booths, children's entertainment, and a Saturday fiddlers' jubilee. A 1972 News-Record story said the festival existed to recognize peanut farming as a major contributor to the local economy.

"Contributor to the local economy" is the key phrase. KTEN has reported that local farmers brought their peanuts into downtown, and that they are credited with starting Whitesboro's first businesses on Main Street. By that account, the peanut trade brought farmers into town and helped start the storefronts. When the peanuts faded, the storefronts stayed, and so did the third Saturday in October.

Sixty, By Whose Count

The birthday is a little harder to pin down than the anniversary banner suggests. Three local sources give three starting points:

• 1965. The Chamber's 2026 parade application says Whitesboro has set aside the third Saturday of October "since 1965."
• 1966. The News-Record's April 1966 announcement calls that fall's event the "first annual" Peanut Festival.
• 1969. A 2025 News-Record profile quotes longtime resident Loretta Bourn remembering the city's "first-ever Peanut Festival" in 1969.

A May 1969 News-Record item already refers to an annual festival set for October 16 through 18 that year. Longtime residents may count it their own way. The Chamber calls this year the 60th, and that is the count on the banners.

Last October, the Rain Settled the Question

If there was any doubt that the festival now belongs to downtown, the 2025 edition answered it. KXII reported that the October 18 festival carried on through Saturday storms, with hundreds of vendors, a car show, a carnival, and live music. KTEN reported more than 30,000 people came despite weather that nearly washed the day out. Chamber representative Tina Newman told the station the rain pushed people into downtown businesses and raised their foot traffic and sales.

For a town whose Main Street started as a peanut market, that is a fitting outcome. By Newman's account, bad weather pushed the crowd into the stores and gave them more business.

Last year also brought some changes that locals noticed. Alcohol was allowed within the festival grounds for the first time, under festival controls. The gospel stage moved inside First Baptist Church, after sitting in front of the post office in 2024. In 2025 the carnival was behind Tender Smokehouse, Kid Alley was in the Church of Christ parking lot at Union and Wainwright, and carnival parking was in the field behind Sonic. That was last year's layout. The Chamber has not yet published a 2026 map.

October 17, Hour by Hour

Here is what the Chamber's 2026 applications and rules confirm so far:

The parade application lists Wilson Street and the 100 to 300 blocks of East and West Main as festival grounds. It does not give closure times, so plan on those blocks being blocked off before the 8 a.m. opening. The car show runs rain or shine and benefits the Grayson County Children's Advocacy Center, with Frank's Towing and Frank's Body Shop as sponsors.

Two deadlines are close. Car show preregistration closes October 1, and parade entries are due Friday, October 2. Float winners take $200, $150, and $100 for first through third place. There are also $50 awards for a non-float winner, Mayor's Choice, and Heritage. The Heritage prize seems the best fit for a sixtieth year.

What's Different at Sixty

The theme is "Peace, Love, & Peanuts: Celebrating 60 Groovy Years." The grand marshal is Hank Lovejoy, whom the organizers called "a true Whitesboro legend, icon, and hometown staple." Legend Bank and I-35 Trailer Store of Texas sponsor the parade, according to the Herald Democrat's September 2 preview. Holiday Chevrolet joins the Whitesboro Area Chamber of Commerce as presenting sponsor. The same preview lists live entertainment, a carnival, Kid Alley, and a petting zoo. It also reported the vendor booth area was already 80 percent full with weeks still to go.

The festival's own Facebook announcements, collected on a third-party mirror page, add a few details for the anniversary. They include a limited-edition acrylic "Buddy McNutty" souvenir, five inches tall, sold for $20 and free to Chamber members. There is a raffle for a 2026 Chevrolet Trax, with $50 tickets and a drawing on the Main Stage at 4 p.m. on festival day, and the winner does not have to be present. The posts also mention vendor-donated giveaways on the Main Stage, plus trivia and crowd contests sponsored by GP Plumbing.

Some things are still unannounced. The Chamber has not posted the 2026 park-and-ride pickup spots, a street-closure schedule, or a stage lineup. The Chamber's festival page points people to its Facebook page for updates, and that is where those details will likely appear first.

The Rest of the Fall Runs Through the Same Crowd

The groups that fill Main Street on October 17 stay busy the rest of the season. Keep Whitesboro Beautiful is recruiting volunteers for its festival booth. It plans to replace downtown's worn fall and Christmas decorations and to hold an Adopt-a-Highway cleanup on the first Saturday in November. The Whitesboro Riding Club lists its arena at 35 Noland Road. The club's Need for Speed PlayDays are scheduled there for September 27, October 11, and November 8.

That arena calendar ties back to Keith Welch, who told KTEN he now spends much of his time baling hay for horse farms.

When the Conversation Turns to Land

I'm a rancher and horseman, and I work with families whose land has changed use over one or two generations. If you're thinking about what your acreage is suited for today, or what it would take to pass it on, I'm glad to walk the property with you and talk it over plainly and privately. Enjoy the parade, and find me when you're ready. Shawn Keefe. Let's Connect.