JOYCE — The Joyce Daze Wild Blackberry Festival is set for Saturday at a variety of locations in Joyce.
Festivities will kick off with a Pancake Breakfast at Crescent Grange from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday and finish at 3:30 p.m. after a button drawing.
Other featured events include a blackberry pie contest, blackberry pie sales, vendor booths, kids activities, live music, the Grand Parade down state Highway 112 and the popular Extreme Slug Racing at 2:30 p.m. at the Family Kitchen Beer Garden.
Organizers anticipate more than 200 freshly baked pies, made with local wild blackberries, to be available for sale.
The pies, sliced into sixths, will be sold for $7 per slice, $8 each when topped with ice cream.
Whole pies, if any remain, will be sold after the parade.
Proceeds from pies sales benefit scholarships and community projects.
Those who want to test their skills as a piemaker can enter the Wild Blackberry Pie Contest by dropping pies at the tent next to the Joyce Depot Museum before 11 a.m.
The youth category is for bakers ages 10-17.
Complete rules are posted at www.joycedaze.org.
Local bands will be featured throughout the day starting at 10 a.m. in front of the Joyce Museum.
The Extreme Slug Races, a fundraiser for the fire department, happens after the parade at the Family Kitchen.
Bring your own slug or bet on one provided by someone else. The event is open to slug owners of all ages.
For more information, email joinus@joycedaze.org or visit www.joycedaze.org.
