By Jessica Domel

I love Texas. Have I ever mentioned that? Our state is home to dozens of fun food festivals where entire communities come together to celebrate food and the farmers who grow it.

As many of you know, I lived in Seguin for the past 10 years, and Seguin is a stone’s throw away from the home of one of my favorite food festivals–the Luling Watermelon Thump!

The Thump features live music, a parade, a seed spitting contest, a melon eating contest and more. It’s a giant celebration of the watermelon crop in that area. I love it!

But Luling isn’t the only Texas city to celebrate its food heritage.

In January, Mission celebrated with the Texas Citrus Fiesta.

February brought the Jalapeño Festival in Laredo.

There’s always the Fulton Oysterfest in March. That event has been going strong for more than 30 years!

The Poteet Strawberry Festival follows in April as does the Chicken Fried Steak Festival in Lamesa.

Texas is also home to the Chisholm Trail Roundup Barbecue in Lockhart every first and second weekend in June.

There’s also a peach jamboree, a pecan festival, blueberry festival, tomato fest, dairy fest, grape fest, shrimp fest and more throughout the year.

Most of these events include live music, activities featuring the locally-grown food and attractions that draw people together to celebrate Texas agriculture.

Which Texas food festival is your favorite?