Sweet Corn Festival finishes its 76th year with large crowds and Chris Cagle

MILLERSPORT — The sun set Saturday evening on the 76th Millersport Sweet Corn Festival, closing out another successful year with a performance by country artist Chris Cagle.

Crowds flocked to the festival to get one last taste of hot, buttered corn, ride the rides and enjoy a late summer evening.

The midway was packed for the majority of the day, with kids and teens taking turns on the numerous amount of carnival rides. Ride Safety officers patrolled the area ensuring festival attendees were safe and the amusements were operational.

Lines stretched out into the walkways for numerous food vendors. The festival had over 70 local non-profits and organizations on-site to feed the crowd. As the sun set, a yellow, almost corn-like hue settled across the food area as guests bought freshly made doughnuts, tried the sweet corn ice cream and enjoyed fried tomatoes.

The festival mascot, Corny, a walking, smiling ear of corn made its appearance at various locations throughout the weekend, even showing up to dance with kids during the performance of Cassette Mindset at the Hickory Grove Bandstand Stage on Saturday.

Firehouse, a 90s-era rock band, was scheduled to perform on Friday evening, but due to an undisclosed medical issue, had to cancel. Molly Hatchet, a southern and hard rock band from the 80s took their spot, bringing hair band dreams to life for the large crowd.

As the lawn filled with folding chairs and blankets on Saturday, the Sweet Corn Festival royalty took to the Brookover-Harlow pavilion to address the crowd. The 2023 royalty court included Queen Peyton Allison Wallace from Logan High School, first runner-up Jocelyn Barnecut from Fairfield Union High School and second runner-up Mayci Schilling from Millersport High School.

Closing out the annual event was a performance from country music artist Chris Cagle. Starting promptly at 8:30 p.m., Cagle and his band put on an energetic, touching show for the crowd. Cagle sang hits like 'Let There Be Cowgirls' and 'I Breathe In, I Breathe Out,' between addressing the crowd.

Cagle spoke about his journey with sobriety and became visibly choked-up and tear-filled when hearing the crowd cheer for him. "I may have taken those woo's for granted in the past, but when I can hear you guys over my band, it means the world to me," noted Cagle.

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Saturday at the Millersport Sweet Corn Festival