Collinsville International Horseradish Festival

Today Kraig and I went to Collinsville, IL to attend the International Horseradish Festival. I was hoping to see some people dressed up like horseradish like at the Garlic Fest we went to last here- but no such luck. They did have a lot of quirky little events and games that utilized horseradish though!
By the time we had gotten there, most of the games were finished but they did have "root golf" where you see how far you can hit a horseradish root with a golf club, a "root toss" where you see how far you can throw a horseradish root, a horseradish recipe contest, and even a Little Miss Horseradish Pageant. We saw some of the pageant. It was for little girls 4-6 years old. They had to answer questions about themselves. One girl was asked, "What is your favorite animal and why?" She answered, "A penguin, because they slide around on their bellies." What can I say, I wanted her to win once I heard that!
They also had to come on stage and tell a horseradish fact. There we learned that the horseradish is not in the radish family at all- it is in the mustard family. We also learned that it contains no fat and no cholesterol and that some believe if you rub it on your forehead, it can relieve headaches. Another tidbit of horseradish info- the horseradish only becomes spicy after being grinded. The smaller the pieces it is ground into, the spicier the horseradish. This is because as its root cells are crushed, they release a special oil that gives the horseradish its zesty kick. :)
Collinsville, IL actually produces 60% of the world's horseradish and all of southern Illinois produces 85% of the world's horseradish. I bet that you didn't know that!! I also bet that you now know more about horseradish that you ever wished to! We bought a jar of official festival horseradish and both had a philly cheese steak sandwich  that was seasoned with horseradish. It was quite good! I wanted to try the funnel cakes that supposedly had some kind of horseradish jelly on them.. but I couldn't find them (it sounded pretty terrible anyway, so maybe that was a good thing).
After we had our fill of the festival, we tried to jump back on the shuttle bus to go back to our car. We waited a long time, and eventually Kraig just walked back to our car and then came back and picked me up. We never did see that shuttle bus again... I wonder if it ever came!
All in all, it was a pretty fun and interesting day!