In 1963, the Holmen American Legion decided that Holmen needed a festival. The village had a cannery and a creamery and so the theme became corn and butter. The Holmen cannery donated the corn while the creamery donated the butter and Kornfest was born. In the beginning, the corn was free, but people grabbed it by the bushel-full and so a fee was added. That didn't diminish the popularity of this messy but tasty treat. After the fest, the local Boy Scouts would clean up the mess.

In the early days, there was just the basic corn and festing. In 1979, the Holmen Lions added the Kornfest Car Show followed by the Kornfest Parade in 1982. The fest also now includes more food, friday night fireworks, carnival rides, live entertainment, sports competitions, and more.

Please contact the Holmen American Legion with any questions or concerns. Thanks to Kent Sween for help with the history of Kornfest.

Click on a year for a schedule of events: Kornfest 2008 | Kornfest 2007

You can also get to this page from the easier to remember address of Kornfest.com