2023 DATE: March 18, 2023
This post documents my experience on March 19, 2016.
In the village of Deerfield, Michigan…
…the American Legion was going nuts…
…for nuts…
…as they kicked off their 15th Annual Testicle Festival (sorry, couldn’t resist).
I had gone to a Testicle Festival in Ohio and I wanted to see how it compared…
…so I drove to Deerfield, walked by the donation parking lot…
…the festival buses out front…
…and the clothing and neighboring Girl Scout cookie vendors…
…and joined the many people already wiggling inside the crowded legion.
Once inside, the first thing I noticed was the merchandise table…
…where I had to get myself a T-shirt and a can coozie.
They also had a gun raffle table…
…and a guy selling 50/50 tickets…
…but I decided, instead, to go straight to the food ticket booth…
…purchase enough for a dinner and drink…
…and then wait in line…
…for fried cattle testicle slices, chicken gizzards, baked beans, cole slaw and a roll.
Since the inside was already crowded…
…I headed outside past the fry station…
…stopped at the outside drink trailer to fill my can coozie…
…and found a seat in one of the outside tents.
I was ready to eat…
…and I did just that because it was delicious!
The testicles were tender.
The gizzards were tasty!
I absolutely loved the beans with its bean variety, sauce, bacon and meat.
The cole slaw was fine, creamy and with a horseradish bite.
A great roll too.
Definitely worth it!
Afterward, I headed to the back to talk to the volunteers…
…and they brought out this unsliced bull testicle for me to see up close (not as appealing as what I just ate).
In our discussion, they explained that this festival started back in the 1950’s at the Deerfield Tavern down the street. Each year, farmers of the area would bring over their bull testicles and they’d fry them up for a Saturday night supper. This tradition eventually turned into the festival and it would go on for a number of years (this is not unlike the history of the Testicle Festival in Tiro, Ohio).
Eventually, the Deerfield Tavern closed and the festival temporarily ended with it until the American Legion picked it up 14 years ago.
Now, in their 15th year, they were going through 250 pounds of bull testicles and 150 pounds of chicken gizzards and most likely selling out by 3 pm.
This is a good reason to get their early in future years if you want to get a plate of yummy grub.
But if testicles aren’t your thing, you’d still enjoy the people.
Everyone there was super friendly…
…and in the festival spirit.
Many, in fact, took notice of my camera…
…and wanted me to take a picture of them.
So I did (I guess I’m friendly too).
Speaking of friendliness, I should mention that there was bead throwing at the festival…
…which made some festival-goers particularly friendly…
…in a New Orleans Mardi Gras sort of way.
This was especially true when the boxes of fancier beads were brought out.
I stayed for some of it, getting a kick out of the fun everyone was having…
…but I left before things got too crazy.