Sweet onion seeds include Walla Walla as well as many of the Mammoth types like Kelsae onion seeds and Ailsa Craig onion seeds. Perhaps not surprisingly, onion festivals abound, as many communities in North America depend on onion farming. But the town of Vidalia, Georgia, must surely set a new standard of celebration with its 12 full days of festivities. Although the official festival is only three days long in mid-April, the “pre-festival” events include beauty pageants, softball tournaments, historic reenactments, a sidewalk sale, storytelling, genealogy lessons, a carnival, a parade, and outdoor movie screenings. By the time the official festival gets underway, things really get moving. There are barbecues, hayrides, a full-scale air show, demonstrations of military equipment, a street dance, rodeo, marathon race, a car show, an arts festival, recipe contest, a motorcycle rally, an onion eating contest, the “Vidalia Onion Culinary Extravaganza,” live music, and an onion sale! The entire spectacle is overseen by “Yumion,” Vidalia’s own life-size walking onion mascot.
