09-10-2017, 06:11 AM
This festival has a funny history. Apparently there is a big goat celebration in Ireland, and Babe Howard, the fellow who started this one in Tennessee had some Irish relatives visit him almost thirty years ago. As a welcoming party he got some goats together and called it "International Goat Days." Babe Howard died a few years ago but the celebration continues. There's nothing remotely Irish about it. It's all Southern BBQ, arts and crafts, tractor pulls, and rodeo. There's a small Tennessee Fainting Goat show, and they had a few dairy goats around as well as a goat petting zoo, but there's more festival than goats. Still, it was a lot of fun and I hope to see them revive the chariot race tradition. I think the chariot race died with Babe Howard. Maybe someone will get it going again.