Baby Food Is On the Menu at This Town's Big Festival
Gerber Baby Food was founded in Fremont, and residents gather for baby races and puree-eating competitions each summer
Fremont — One of West Michigan's quieter small towns, Fremont is home to only about 4,600 people. It's got a charming downtown, plenty of lakes nearby, but nothing particularly special separating it from any other small town across the state.
That is, until one weekend in July, when tens of thousands of people make their way to Fremont for one reason and one reason only: baby food.
Well, a baby food festival, to be specific. Not that that makes it any less weird.
What many people don't realize is that Fremont is actually the birthplace of Gerber Baby Food. The Gerber Products Company was first founded here in 1927 after local cannery owner Daniel Gerber and his wife, Dorothy, began making strained fruits and vegetables for their infant daughter, Sally. What started as a homemade experiment quickly grew into the biggest baby food brand in the world.
The city first began celebrating in 1951 with an event called "Old Fashioned Days" before officially rebranding it in 1990 as the National Baby Food Festival. Today, it's one of West Michigan's biggest community festivals, bringing tens of thousands of people to a town with fewer than 5,000 residents year after year.
The festival itself is like any other good ol’ American county fair. It's got the sketchy carnival rides, food trucks serving all the greasy fair classics, vendors from all the local businesses, and even those “live carousel” pony rides that always make you feel a little bad for the poor horses that have to be chained up all weekend.
But what this festival has that you won't find anywhere else is a surprising number of baby-related competitions.
Throughout the weekend, there was a baby photo contest, a baby crawling race, and yep... even a baby food eating contest. Kids, teenagers, and adults were all eligible to compete, but I decided to sit that one out.
Live music is another huge part of the festival with beloved local artists performing all weekend. This year's lineup featured Big Cadillac, The Killer Flamingos, and The Six Pack alongside Crocodile Rockstar, an Elton John tribute band from Chicago.
And for those interested in learning more about the Gerber Baby’s Michigan history, there were several exhibits along Main Street where visitors could explore the company's roots in Fremont and even get a behind-the-scenes look at the factory.
For a town of only about 4,600 people, the turnout was pretty incredible. According to locals, this is easily the busiest weekend of the year for Fremont. It not only brings a slew of people through the doors of local restaurants, shops, and businesses, but also gives people a reason to visit a small Michigan town they otherwise probably never would've.
I can't say I left craving a jar of strained peas, but I can definitely see why this festival has become such a beloved summer tradition in West Michigan.
