Posted by Judi Turner
on May 25, 2006

Cookeville, TN (5-22-06) -- Cookeville's 11th Annual Fall FunFest is slated for Friday and Saturday, September 8-9, 2006 on Cookeville, Tennessee's historic downtown square. One of the premier fall events on the Upper Cumberland Plateau, Fall FunFest offers a variety of events for the entire family, including a championship barbeque cookoff, a Family Fun Zone, Teen World, a 5k/10k Eloqui Fun Run, WCTE Stations of Imagination and TACA arts and crafts area. A diverse array of musical entertainment will be offered on three performance stages. Past performers have included Delbert McClinton, Marcia Ball, Jonell Mosser and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Local and regional vendors will offer food and concessions. Admission to the event is free.

Kicking off the two-day event on Friday, September 8th is the 17th Annual Cookeville CookOff, the Tennessee State Barbeque Championship, sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society and presented by Corona. At least three dozen of the finest cooking teams from across the country will battle it out in the pits for $10,000 in prize money and top honors as Reserve Grand Champion. The winner receives an invitation to represent the state of Tennessee in the prestigious Kansas City Invitational. Hours for the CookOff are 5:30-10:00 p.m., with crowning of the Reserve Grand Champion on Saturday.

For the second year, teenagers are the focus of Teen World, featuring contests, demonstrations and free skate time on custom-built ramps at Full Throttle Skate Park. Gaming competitions, featuring the latest x-box games on big screen TVs, and live music on the Teen Stage are highlights of the popular attraction. Family Fun Zone attracts kids of all ages for the moonwalk, giant slide, rock climbing wall, mechanical bull ride, jousting, an obstacle course, a castle maze and more. Tickets are $1 each, and ride prices range from $1 to $5.

Festival attendees can work off the barbeque at the 6th Annual Eloqui Fun Run on Saturday. The 5k/10k event, which winds through downtown Cookeville and beyond, begins at 7:00 a.m., with packet pick-up and late registration at 6:30 a.m. Awards will be presented for first, second and third place male and female winners in a number of age divisions. All participants will receive an official Eloqui Fun Run t-shirt.

WCTE's popular Stations of Imagination kicks off at 10:00 a.m. with numerous activity booths, family-oriented entertainment and opportunity for kids to meet their favorite PBS characters, and will continue until 5:00 p.m. The PBS-member station is sponsoring the event for the 10th year. Also on Saturday, the Highland Rim Chapter of the Tennessee Arts and Crafts Association (TACA) will sponsor the arts and crafts area for the seventh year. A juried selection of local and regional artists, including wood workers, glass blowers, stained glass artists, jewelry makers, potters, painters and more, present a high quality array of their various art forms. The Friends of the Appalachian Center for Craft in Tennessee will sponsor the Kids Craft Booth on Saturday as well.

Fall FunFest is presented by CityScape, Cookeville's local "Main Street" organization that works to preserve, protect and promote the heart and soul of Cookeville -- it's downtown. CityScape is a group of concerned citizens working hand in hand with partners such as the City of Cookeville, local merchants and property owners to develop downtown as a destination for business and pleasure.

Event sponsors include Coca-Cola, Eloqui Wireless, Corona, Premier Diagnostic Imaging, N2TheNet, Streamliner Creative, Putnam County Clean Commission, JWC Broadcasting, Stone Brothers Welding, Cookeville Regional Medical Center, Comcast Spotlight, Baymont Inn and Suites, BB&T/Legge Insurance, Herald-Citizen, Lamar Outdoor Advertising and Cookeville Chamber of Commerce.

Cookeville is located approcimately 1.5 miles off I-40 in middle Tennessee, at Exit #287 (Cookeville/Sparta).

For more information, visit the FunFest website.

Contact information:
Publicity: Judi Turner/ turnerco@bellsouth.net / 615-356-9115
Event Manager: Dennis Freeman, dennis@freemanenterprises.com / 615-445-5077
Cookeville CookOff: Tony Stone, 931-526-1063
Eloqui Fun Run: Cara Rubright, 931-520-5279
Stations of Imagination: Joyce Hunter, 931-528-2222
Food and Retail Vendors: Mike Dyce, 615-456-3889
Arts and Crafts: Mike Whiteman, 931-432-6313