Posted June 19, 2024
Annually, cheese curds and craft beer are enjoyed by those who attend the Ellsworth Cheese Curd Festival. 2024 marks the 23rd year of the festival. (Photo courtesy of Ellsworth Cheese Curd Festival and Ellsworth Chamber of Commerce)
River Falls, WI – In the land of milk and cheese, the small town of Ellsworth is set to celebrate National Dairy Month in grand fashion by hosting their 23rd annual Cheese Curd Festival this upcoming weekend.
On Friday and Saturday evening, Ellsworth’s East End Park will transform into a site that boasts seemingly endless amounts of curds, thanks to the Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery, which has been producing cheese curds down the street since 1968.
Festival cheese curds can be enjoyed individually, or as part of several dishes served from food trucks. Kim Beebe, Executive Director of the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce, detailed some of the festival’s main highlights and attractions.
“At Cheese Curd Central, we serve hand-battered cheese curds including natural, a cinnamon sugar dessert curd that rivals the mini donut, and a specialty curd that changes every year,” Beebe said.
This year’s exclusive curd is Garlic Dill. According to the official Cheese Curd Festival brochure, this curd is “bursting with the savory flavor of garlic, the refreshing tang of dill, and the creamy goodness of cheese.”
The official brochure also reports that approximately 6,000 pounds of curds are consumed at the festival each year. Even when the Cheese Curd Festival isn’t in session, the creamery still produces about 160,000 pounds of cheese curds every day, according to a fact sheet provided by the Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery.
Speaking of big numbers, the festival brings curd enthusiasts together from across the country and even the world. According to the Ellsworth Cheese Curd Festival’s Facebook page, the event attracts an average of 30,000 people during the two-day event. Besides cheese curds, the festival features beverages, tasting events, live music, and a car show.
While the festival provides food and entertainment, it also has a significant economic and social impact on the community.
“The festival is the main fundraiser for the Ellsworth Chamber of Commerce [and] also supports over 20 local non-profit organizations. Since 2017, over $110,000 have gone back to these groups, helping them fund various community projects and initiatives,” Beebe said.
In order to make these fundraising efforts and the entire event possible, many volunteers help before, during, and after the festival. This weekend’s volunteers include members of the local boy scout troop, as well as some individuals who have ties to UW-River Falls.
“We’re thrilled to have the UWRF football team and Coach [Matt] Walker as our setup and teardown ‘super group.’ They’ll be hauling everything to the park and helping us set up the day before the event, and then coming back on Sunday morning to do it all in reverse,” Beebe said.
The festival’s popularity has gained national recognition in recent years. In March, 2024, the Cheese Curd Festival was named the third-best specialty food festival in the country by USA Today. In America’s Dairyland, Ellsworth is known as the “Cheese Curd Capital,” as designated by Wisconsin Governor Anthony S. Earl in 1984.
Further information about the Ellsworth Cheese Curd Festival can be found on the festival’s official website and Facebook page.
The article may be found online at https://uwrfjournalism.org/2024/06/23rd-annual-ellsworth-cheese-curd-festival-happening-this-weekend/.