Testicle Festival. Just say that out loud. It is a legitimate news item, so you needn’t be embarrassed. Maybe that’s why it’s so successful. You can snicker as you tell your friends that you’re packing up the kids the day before Thanksgiving to take a little road trip.
Where are you headed? To the Testicle Festival.
The Parkside Pub in Huntley, Illinois has been holding a Turkey Testicle Festival every year for 23 years. The whole thing works so well that a neighboring town has decided to go bigger with it.
East Dundee, Illinois has announced that they are holding their own Turkey Testicle Festival this year, on the same day, in fact. J.R. Westberg, who owns the Parkside Pub, doesn’t mind much. He just wishes they had come up with their own name for it. Maybe have it a different day.
But the idea of a Testicle Festival is not unique to Illinois, whichever one you attend. Other such events are held in Deerfield, Michigan; Olean, Missouri; and Oakdale, California.
In 2001, a three-day Testicle Festival in Fargo, North Dakota saw a riot. Seven people were arrested.
Started my Saturday off @ the 9th annual Testicle Festival.. Curious to see where the rest of this night is going
— Kaitlin Bennington (@kay_tea_beee) July 11, 2015
Montana has a Testicle Festival too. The Rock Creek Lodge near Clinton, Montana has been holding just such an event. They call it a Testy Festy.
The ones in Montana are not from turkeys, but from young bulls. You may have heard those called Rocky Mountain Oysters. For those of you without cowboy hats, that’s what a steer is: a young bull with its testicles removed. What do you then do with the testicles? Have a Testicle Festival, of course!
Washington has the "sausage fest" makes sense that Montana has this notable festival #testyfesty #montana pic.twitter.com/H6iXCbFG3z
— brandee fish (@brandeefish) June 26, 2015
The Testy Festy in Montana is held in July or August. This year it July 29 through August 2. The event organizers have DJs, Rocky Mountain Oyster eating contests, a campground, wet t-shirt contests, and you can buy t-shirts to commemorate the experience.
So check out one of these Testicle Festivals this year. It sounds like a ball. You’d be nuts to miss it.
Saying the words "Testicle Festival" to foreigners and realizing how fucking weird the area I live in truly is
— Mariah Tighe (@MariahTighe) July 11, 2015