~ Carmen

Nothing more romantic than eating beans and watching outhouses on wheels!
A couple of years ago, Joe and I were trying to plan a romantic weekend away. I knew Mountain View, Arkansas (read A Weekend Away in Mountain View, Arkansas) would be beautiful in the fall so I searched for a bed and breakfast or little cabin to reserve. Hotel, motel, cabin and B&B gave me the same reply, “No vacancy.” I finally asked the next “No” why all of Mountain View seemed to be booked up. “Oh, that’s the Bean and Outhouse Race Festival weekend. We book up to a year in advance!”
Well, we changed out weekend date, but made ourselves a vow, “We must checkout this Bean extravaganza next year!”
Hotels get full early for Beanfest, so book now!

Kettles used to cook beans
Beanfest
Every year on the last Saturday of October, the little town of Mountain View, Arkansas swells from 2,800 to over 60,000 people. For the last two years, we have fulfilled our quest and attended the Beanfest and Championship Outhouse Races. It by no means is a romantic weekend, unless you find bowl after bowl of beans lovey-dovey, BUT, you can’t beat it for a unique, memorable experience.
It all starts around 7 a.m. Saturday morning on Main Street, when 2,000 pounds of Great Value dry pinto beans get loaded into 30-40 kettles. Teams start cooking the beans, each with what they believe will be a winning combination of seasonings. Pots are stirred with boat oars and tasting is done periodically to ensure the best bean batch!
Teams also dress in coordinated costumes and decorate their booths in hopes of winning extra prizes.
Conducting a bean taste test.

Love the team costumes!
Around 11 a.m. the judging of the beans begins. Spectators try the gauge the judges’ faces to know which line to get into. Even though all the beans and cornbread are free, you don’t want to waste time trying bad beans. That would be a tragedy! Teams that have signs touting previous wins start having people line up in front of their booths early.

Lining up for FREE BOWLS of BEANS and squares of cornbread!
Last year, we were running to the local Wal-mart to buy hats and gloves because of freezing weather. This year it was unusually hot with record 89 F/ 32 C. That’s crazy weather for the end of October. Standing in the sun to get a bowl of beans may seem like a silly way to spend a Saturday morning. You would be correct. It’s silly, random fun, and does much to make this country girl smile. I grew up in the rural woods of southern Arkansas, so I feel a kinship to this redneck mode of entertainment.
These are my people!
At noon, the winners are announced and the dinner bell is rung up and down Main Street. Teams start serving up their kettles of beans as fast as they can fill up the bowls. If you finish one bowl, just jump in another line. Beans keep flowing until its all gone. If you don’t like one team’s concoction, no problem. It’s free. There are 30+ other lines you can try.

Over 2,000 lbs. of beans cooked and served!

Cornbread!

Worth the heat and humidity for a free bowl of award-winning pinto beans!
Outhouse Races
An hour after the dinner bell rings, the real redneck fun begins. Imagine an outhouse on wheels with a driver and two bobsled-type pushers. Two teams race at a time, vying for the coveted Gold, Silver, and Bronze toilet seat awards and cash prizes. You would think it would be all laughs, but there is some serious competition going on. Hay bales line the course in case the outhouse pushers lose control. There are definite crowd favorites, especially for the comically dressed.
Parade of the Outhouse Racers
Nightly Bluegrass Pickin’
Mountain View is a center for bluegrass music, and the weekend of Beanfest is no exception. Throughout the weekend, musicians gather together in the city park, underneath trees, and by storefronts to play bluegrass, folk, and old gospel tunes. There is no prepared set or even acknowledgement that there is an audience. It’s like you’re just listening in to a private jam session.
I have a friend who plays the banjo and has been to the festival the last two years. He explained like this. You bring your instrument and a chair. You see another musician and ask them what they play, if they play something different than you, you invite them to pick, soon others join in. Then spectators start setting up their chairs to listen in. During most weekends in Mountain View and especially during Beanfest, there can be dozens of impromptu picking sessions around the courthouse square downtown. There is music around every corner, some not so good, some better than any paid concert.
Do you like going to food festivals? Please share by commenting below!
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~ Carmen
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Devon | A Tiny Bit Crunchy
November 5, 2016 8:35 amThis is too funny! Looks like a good time, love the costumes and the music looked really fun. A good one to add to the archives 😛
Pack Your Baguios
November 5, 2016 8:46 amIt was a blast! Great people-watching and fantastic food.
Marie
November 5, 2016 9:09 amWhat an interesting festival! I have never heard of this one before but it looks like a lot of fun. The food and the customs are so perfect for fall. Makes me want some lentil soup and sweet cornbread!
Pack Your Baguios
November 5, 2016 1:14 pmYou are so right. It is a perfect festival for fall.
Liz
November 6, 2016 7:57 pmI can’t imagine what it’d be like for a town to go from 2,800 to over 60,000 people! It looks like a great experience. 🙂
Thais
November 6, 2016 8:33 pmI’ve never been to a food festival like this! Must be amazing! I love pinto beans, but I’ve only make them Brazilian or Indian style.
Pack Your Baguios
November 7, 2016 2:43 pmI love Brazilian and Indian style beans!
Lisa
November 7, 2016 7:50 amI love fall/food festivals especially southern ones. The music, the people, and great activities make it all fun and always worth visiting and enjoyable. The food is always fabulous and nothing better than beans and cornbread, but being from the south I am partial!
Pack Your Baguios
November 7, 2016 3:05 pmI grew up in Arkansas and now live in Memphis so I’m partial, too!
Paula - Gone with the Wine
November 7, 2016 10:12 amThis is too funny! I saw some of the pics in your instagram and I thought, wow, that is something that sounds almost my home country Finland. We have a sauna championship, wife carrying championship, rubber boot throwing contest, air guitar championship and cell phone throwing championship. This would fit just in. Ha ha! Great post!
Pack Your Baguios
November 7, 2016 3:06 pmThose sounds like fun championships! I especially like the wife-carrying one!
Kate
November 7, 2016 10:14 amWhat fun!! I love small towns just for this reason. I’ve passed through Arkansas a few times – they know how to have a good time!
Pack Your Baguios
November 7, 2016 3:06 pmI grew up outside a small town in Arkansas, so I’m about as hillbilly as they come!
Kelly Turpin
November 7, 2016 2:45 pmI think this is hilarious! I love the idea of a bean and outhouse festival – obviously they go hand in hand. Love your photos. The event looks quintessentially American…. I hope I get to experience something like this when I eventually visit America!
Pack Your Baguios
November 7, 2016 3:07 pmIt is about as Americana as you can get. We would love for you to visit!
nicole
November 7, 2016 8:51 pmThis is the first time I see this celebration! Seems like a real fun time.
Pack Your Baguios
November 8, 2016 8:43 amIt is a blast!
Ashley
November 8, 2016 4:10 amOnly in Arkansas! This is such a hoot. I will say, I love beans so this would be pretty fun and delicious. Ending the festival with some impromptu bluegrass would make my heart happy as well. Sounds like a lot of fun.
Pack Your Baguios
November 8, 2016 8:44 amYou’re right, only in Arkansas!
Teresa
November 9, 2016 4:45 pmThere’s nothing like going on new adventures especially the ones you never heard of, they’re usually the best. Like Ashley, I like beans so I think I’d have a blast trying this out as well.
Pack Your Baguios
November 11, 2016 10:04 amI agree totally! Exploring little rural areas are so much fun!
juliasan
November 11, 2016 9:47 amI love such funny festivals! Around here (Central Europe) there are a lot of food and drink festivals – like Ocotberfest in Germany, Wine Festivals all over, the Palinka (snaps) Festival in Budapest, or the famous Hungarian Fish Soup cooking or the Sausage Filling Competitions. But yours is definitely the most funny one. 🙂
Pack Your Baguios
November 11, 2016 10:04 amI don’t know, a sausage filling competition sounds pretty funny to me!
Sarah
November 12, 2016 1:30 pmLove beans and cornbread! 😀 Attending local festivities with free food and entertainment sounds good to me! It may not be the most romantic getaway, but it does look a lot like fun to me! As long as you both enjoyed it, what else matters? 🙂
Pack Your Baguios
November 13, 2016 3:11 pmWe did enjoy it! And you’re right. That’s the most important thing.
Maria
November 13, 2016 1:33 pmThis really looks like a lot of fun. I love food festivals too. But that I know of there are no beans festival here in Portugal 🙂
Pack Your Baguios
November 13, 2016 3:11 pmI bet Portugal has some pretty fun food festivals, too!
Lianna
November 13, 2016 6:35 pmThis looks like so much fun! I love all kinds of festivals and as an American, going to Arkansas would be a cool experience. Definitely need to check this out one day.