The 28th annual RC Cola-MoonPie Festival 2022 was June 18th in Bell Buckle, TN. The pastoral settlement blossomed in 1852 when the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad came through. The tiny village of around 650 residents is famous for its antiques, country cooking, southern hospitality, bucolic farms and walking-horse ranches. 30,000 tourists were expected over the festival weekend.
Bell Buckle has done an excellent job of preserving and restoring its Victorian storefronts, houses and churches.
The general store and many of the antique stores offered fresh MoonPies and RC colas by the case.
Bell Buckle celebrates the South’s original fast food with foot races, cloggers, live music, MoonPie games, a parade and ends with cutting up the “World’s Largest MoonPie.”
Cloggers took the stage and fired up the crowd in a small park full of vendors and food stands.
This “One-Man Garage Band” played from his garage that opened into the park packed with people and festival booths.
This bashful mule shied away from Karen’s Kiss. He was part of a wagon-pulling team in the brief parade down Bell Buckle’s main drag.
Tiny Bell Buckle is packed with restored Victorian houses. Many more of the lovely homes are spread among farms in the lush, rolling hills of Bedford County.
The traditional treat of a MoonPie washed down with an RC Cola was a “sugarholic’s” dream come true. We took our sugar buzz on the road to hike off the calories in Old Stone Fort State Park on the way home. The classic confection and iconic cola were a great idea for a fun gathering.
Indians carved a cow’s bell and the buckle of the belt that attached it to the cow on a tree to warn early settlers in the area that their domestic livestock were infringing on their hunting grounds. The symbols became the name of Bell Buckle Creek and the Village.