Tri-Fest is an annual charitable festival held every April in

Henderson, Kentucky Henderson is a home rule-class city along the Ohio River and is the county seat of Henderson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,757 at the 2010 U.S. census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area, locally known as the ...

. Established in 1988, it's one of the largest annual festivals held in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and generates over $100,000 in annual direct and indirect support to charities in western

and southern

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. The Henderson Breakfast Lions Club originated and continues to organize the festival as a means to raise funds for local

charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

. Tri-Fest raises funds for local charities in two ways: # The Breakfast Lions Club generates revenue from the sale of tickets and concession booth fees to for-profit businesses. A portion of these funds are allocated to organize the following year's Tri-Fest. The bulk of this revenue, however, is donated to local charities. # The organizers welcome local not-for-profit charities to set up food and educational booths. These charities keep 100% of their profits to support their organizations. Charities have included local schools, churches, an

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

care group, a local hospital, and other service, civic, and faith groups. Food items offered to Tri-Fest patrons have included pork chop sandwiches,

lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored beverage. There are varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In North America and South Asia, cloudy still lemonade is the most common variety. There it is traditionally a homemade drink using le ...

apple dumpling An apple dumpling is a baked or boiled pastry-wrapped apple. To prepare apple dumplings, apples are peeled, cored and sometimes quartered and placed on a portion of dough. The hole from the core may be filled with cinnamon, butter and sugar and ...

corn dog A corn dog (also spelled corndog) is a sausage (usually a hot dog) on a stick that has been coated in a thick layer of cornmeal batter and deep fried. It originated in the United States and is commonly found in American cuisine. History Newly a ...

hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically Ground beef, beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles ...

s, and the dubious deep fried Twinkie. Tri-Fest primarily takes place over one weekend in downtown Henderson with much of Main Street and Central Park converted into a pedestrian festival site. A range of live entertainment usually centers on the Central Park stage. Through the years, however, the event has expanded to events throughout the preceding weeks and now include sports tournaments, a 12K/36K bike ride, a

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

, and an art contest. The event culminates with

fireworks Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...

over downtown Henderson on the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

. Tri-Fest took a hiatus in 2020 and 2021, making its usual annual return April 22–24, 2022.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Henderson Breakfast Lions Club (organizers of Tri-Fest)Tri-Fest Home Page
Festivals in Kentucky Tourist attractions in Henderson County, Kentucky Lions Clubs International Henderson, Kentucky