The 18th annual RC-Moon Pie Festival will be held Saturday (June 16) in Bell Buckle. The Southeastern Tourism Society has rated the long-running festival a top 20 event. The festival began in the mid 1990s when a previous event, a somewhat generic country fair, was losing steam, and town merchants learned that the Moon Pie was about to celebrate a birthday.
The day will begin at 7 a.m. with the 17th annual RC-Moon Pie 10-Mile Run. The run, on a challenging, hilly course in what are often warm conditions, expects more than 900 runners ranging in age from 6 to over 70. Food and craft vendors will open about 9 a.m., with food offerings ranging from barbecue to hand-squeezed lemonade and deep-fried Moon Pies.