FOOD NEWS
This Southern City Claims The Title Of 'Watermelon Capital Of The World'
BY J. HENLEY
Watermelon is a popular summer snack throughout the country, but Cordele, Georgia, claims to love the fruit the most and has dubbed itself the "Watermelon Capital of the World."
Located about 150 miles south of Atlanta, Cordele has thousands of acres dedicated to farming watermelons, and the fruit can be seen everywhere from June through August.
In the '90s, Hope, Arkansas, and Hempstead, Texas, challenged Cordele's title, but Cordele watermelons scorched the competition, cementing their claim to watermelon fame.
Cordele is part of Crisp County, which grows over 200 million pounds of watermelon annually, and the city's melons are said to be the crispest, sweetest, and juiciest.
The town has also hosted the Watermelon Days Festival since 1949, with a big parade, dancing, singing, a watermelon eating contest, and even a watermelon seed spitting contest.