Officials with the Princeton Optimist Club announced Thursday afternoon they are planning to hold the annual Black Patch Heritage Festival this year and are in the early planning stages of the annual community event.
George Kilgore, Treasurer and 40-year member of the Princeton Optimist Club, tells the News Edge last year they had to cancel the popular annual community event held the Saturday after Labor Day because of COVID-19.
He says they started getting a lot of questions after the first of the year if they were going to hold the Black Patch Festival this year. He adds when the Club met at the end of March they discussed the possibility of having the event. He says they are hopeful things will be back to normal by September and they want to start preparing now for the annual event.
Kilgore says this week he met with Princeton Mayor Kota Young and Caldwell County Judge-Executive Larry Curling and got their approval to move forward with the Black Patch Festival.
He adds they are reworking the application for the Festival and will have it out for the public soon. The application will be posted on the Black Patch Heritage Festival Facebook page or they can email it to you.
Kilgore says they may need to make some adjustments at this year’s Festival to adhere to safety guidelines.
He adds they are in the early planning stages but they wanted to get the word out to the community the Festival will be held this year.
This year’s Festival is scheduled for Saturday, September 11, which Kilgore notes will also be the 20-year anniversary of 9-11.
Kilgore says the Black Patch Festival has been held since the 1930s and the Princeton Optimist Club has been organizing the annual event since the 1970s. He notes the Festival is to celebrate the history of the tobacco industry, which is a big part of Caldwell County’s heritage.
More information will be released on the Black Patch Heritage Festival Facebook page as it becomes available. You can also call George Kilgore at (270) 625-3427.
