Pie is one of the most beloved Southern foods, connected to some of our most nostalgic memories of home, family, holidays and those special moments around the kitchen table.
Our state has a rich pie-making tradition and Arkansans love pie! That’s why we are so excited to host the first statewide festival to honor this much-loved food.
The Arkansas Pie Festival is set to return to Cherokee Village on April 29, 2023 as a partner of the World Food Championship, the biggest Food Sport event in the world. As an official qualifying event for WFC, the Arkansas Pie Festival will award one Golden Ticket to its champion making them eligible to compete in the Dessert category at the international cooking tournament this fall.
The World Food Championships (WFC) welcomes over 350 teams from across the globe to find the best culinary talent each year. They compete in twelve categories, from barbecue to dessert, as they try to navigate their way to the tournament’s final table and a grand prize of $100,000.
“It’s no secret…people love pie!” explained festival co-founder and Cherokee Village Community Developer Jonathan Rhodes. “We are excited to partner with the World Food Championship to promote Arkansas, bring people together in Cherokee Village and ultimately grow the Arkansas Pie Festival. You don’t want to miss your chance to win a “Golden Ticket” to compete in the Dessert Competition at the World Food Championship in Dallas this fall!”
The Arkansas Pie Festival will savor this much-loved food by hosting a competition between commercial pie makers, home chefs, and students. Judges and attendees will be able to sample pies of all varieties before crowning a people’s choice and champion baker. Pies will also be displayed and auctioned for charity.
In addition to pie tasting, festival-goers will enjoy a Pie Day 5k, live entertainment, food trucks, pie eating and throwing contests, shopping at the Arkansas Pie Pop-up Shop, and much more. A full schedule of events will be released in March.
Festival proceeds support STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) programming and education through the community’s Spring River Innovation Hub.
Cathy Drew is a lifelong resident of the region that she loves to promote. She was born in downtown Batesville in the late ’60s, located in one of the eight counties she now enjoys encouraging people to visit.
Drew became associated with the Ozark Gateway Region in 1990 while working at the ad agency (The Media Market Inc.). The agency handled marketing for the regional association, where she and her co-workers produced an annual tabloid publication. She began working as the Ozark Gateway Region director in June 2000.
After Drew became director, she took the region to the next level by helping the tourism organization create a new website and moved it from the old newspaper paper tabloid publication to a color magazine format. She helped open a visitor center for the Ozark Gateway, allowing visitors to pick up information from the entire state 24/7. Over the years, Drew has helped the organization meet new marketing goals, such as in- and out-of-state marketing, assuring that all 100,000 copies of their magazines are distributed each year.
In 2016, she assisted in creating the first Ozark Gateway Region Golf Classic. The tournament continues to grow each year, allowing the organization to expand its co-op program and helping each county have dedicated promotion. Drew stays busy at Ozark Gateway as the ad sales manager, magazine editor, day-to-day office operations, trade show representative, and magazine distribution representative, all while ensuring that the region is represented all over Arkansas and southern Missouri.
Drew was featured in several local and statewide publications over the years, as well as the 1997 cover of the Ozark Gateway Region tabloid, along with her then 4-year-old son, Jon. She has received several awards, such as the Batesville Rotarian of the Year in 2010 and a three-time Paul Harris Fellow.
She also has served as an Independence County election commissioner for several years. She now serves as their co-election coordinator, helping with behind-the-scenes management of voting equipment, day-to-day election deadlines, and poll worker training.
Drew is Batesville Rotary Club Past President, and is the Rotary Clubs’ current membership chair.
In March of 2018, Drew was honored with induction into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame for her many years of dedicated service to the tourism industry.