Pucker up, Comal County.
In a Pickle Festival New Braunfels runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Comal County Fairgrounds, 701 Common St., New Braunfels. A St. Paddy’s Pickle 5k/Kids Run kicks off the event.
Fun includes adult/kids’ pickle eating-and-drinking competitions, pickle-canning contest judged by professional chefs, free entertainment for kids, a pickled pet parade, music, and pickleball (meet The Cranky Pickle).
Ryan Lewis, the famous “Pickled Guy” with over 500,000 followers on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook, will make an appearance. “The Chainsaw Bunny” from Gatlinburg, Tennessee, will give live carving exhibitions.
Some 140 unique food vendors and artisan crafters are expected. Each will carry at least one pickle-themed item. Same rule applies to food trucks.
Pickle-fried corn dogs, Nashville fried pickles, “Picklerita” Italian ice, pickle lemonade and pickle cake pops are just a few of the culinary treats available for purchase.
Organizer Krystal Wertman with JG Events said her grandmother always canned. When she couldn’t find a “regular” job Wertman started making and selling pickles at farmers markets, eventually earning the moniker “Jelly Girl.”
She lives with her husband and five children in Kingwood, a subdivision north of Houston devastated by Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
“I thought we’re in a pickle, let’s find a way to revitalize Kingwood,” Wertman said.
She threw up a Facebook page and had “tons” of followers within an hour. Around 15,000 people showed up for the first pickle festival in 2019. On Sept. 6, thousands more are expected at the 5th Annual In a Pickle Festival in Kingwood.
Part of the proceeds from the festival in New Braunfels will support the Hunter Syndrome Foundation, which funds research, supports families and raises awareness about a rare genetic order that slowly destroys the body’s cells.
There is no cure and the disease is progressive and life-limiting.
Wertman learned about Hunter Syndrome several years ago when her daughter, who was into rock painting, decided to paint a rock for someone who was sick or in a hospital. A social media post led her to a Kingwood child unable to leave his house due to Hunter Syndrome.
A group of children painted superhero rocks for the boy and hid them in his yard.
The child was so touched that he slept with the rocks for over a year.
