The Tiny Town In Tennessee That’s The Next Cornbread Capital Of The World

...if South Pittsburg isn't already, that is. As host of the annual National Cornbread Festival, this is one tiny town that's a bit more obsessed with cornbread than biscuits, and that can be hard to come by in the south. With the festival coming up in a mere couple of months, we decided to do a bit of digging. The neatest part about it is that South Pittsburg funnels ALL the money from the festival back into their community. This is a festival with a heart, and we're all on board. That's the American Dream, right there.

South Pittsburg is located in the Sequatchie Valley, not too far from Chattanooga, and once a year you can enjoy the cornbread dreams that townsfolk and people from all over have been dreaming up for months.

People come from all over to visit for their delicious and carb-y festival every spring. The weekend-long celebration is packed full of events, like the annual cornbread cook-off and cornbread alley.

The National Lodge® Cast Iron Cornbread Cook-off is the most popular event, with the winner walking away with $5,000 and a new stove. It's the kind of competition that you read about in books or watch in movies, one that's held to high regard here in Tennessee.

There's even a 4-H Cook-Off for little, budding cooks, and it's open to all 4th grade 4-H youth. South Pittsburg sure is nursing our youth off into the restaurant industry, wouldn't you think? And how couldn't you, when the littles grow up in a town absolutely obsessed with the best part of dinner. It's in their blood, you know.

The cornbread festival is in its 21st year and still going strong. It began in 1996, and features the local Lodge Manufacturing, a name you know well and associate with your cast iron cookware. All money raised by the festival has been poured back into the community, resulting in newly paved streets, church, theater and library donations as well as the continued support of the local boy scout troops and daycares.

Your $7 to the Cornbread Fest means that you get SIX free samples throughout your walk, and $5 more gets you admission to Cornbread Alley, and nine more delicious breads to try. Oh, my.

Would you visit? The festival is coming up real soon, April 29th to the 30th, so you may want to put those dates on your calendar and plan a trip. Hours are from 9-6pm on Saturday and 9-5pm on Sunday. Happy eating!

Here's a closer look, in case you're curious:

If you're in the mood to eat, check out the 10 Best Places to Eat Biscuits in Tennessee - they're amazing!