Every year thousands of people visit the Franklin County Watermelon Festival in downtown Russellville, but a majority of the attendees are local. It’s your friends, your family, and your neighbors from all across Franklin County. But at this year’s Watermelon Festival, perusing the food vendors and merchandise tents on Jackson Avenue or cooling down inside one of the eating establishments downtown—air conditioner on full blast, thank you—you may have come across a visitor who was a long way from home.
This reporter, by total happenstance, did.
Lizzie Coram, a 38-year-old chef from Shepton Mallet, a small town in Somerset, England, received the full Watermelon Festival experience this past weekend, taking in the sights, scenes, and sounds of the county’s biggest event over two days.
Coming to America, the only real item on Coram’s itinerary was not the Watermelon Festival but another classic southern rite, a NASCAR race.
“I initially bought tickets for NASCAR at Daytona, but I thought it was a shame just to fly over for a long weekend,” Coram said.
So, having about 10 days in the States, Coram decided to go online and look up some other activities and events going on in this part of the world. That's when she stumbled across the Watermelon Festival.
“I thought I’d look for other fun things to do whilst I was in the south of America and I just did some googling and found this Watermelon Festival,” she said. “I came out for that, flew into Orlando, up to Birmingham, and then drove up from there Friday night.”
Although Coram has traveled to other parts of the world before, it was her first time in the United States. Asked why she chose to visit the South rather than some of the more populous and touristy metropolises, Coram said she prefers the small town vibe and wanted to do something random—something different.
“If I want a big city I can go to London. Obviously I know like New York’s got Central Park and there’s loads of really good restaurants there, but I’d rather come down here and eat some proper food. This is just more interesting than that,” she said.
Proper food, of course, is a subjective term, but Coram did get the opportunity to sample some of the local delicacies at the festival. Fried oreos the chef didn’t rate much—a six out of 10 on her scale. Of course, she had to try the watermelon in the Watermelon Capital of Alabama, but she, apologetically, wasn’t too keen on that, either.
“I’m still not a convert to watermelon,” she said. “I tried a few slices and it’s still okay. And it’s messy. Still not a convert to the watermelon, I’m sorry!”
Barbeque, however, hit the spot.
“The barbeque is amazing,” Coram said. “I don’t really eat meat much at home, but if I moved out here I would just have to eat meat because it’s just so tasty.”
The Brit was also able to experience some of the competitive aspects of the Watermelon Festival. Even though Coram isn’t a fan of eating watermelon, she said she quickly became a fan of watermelon seed spitting.
“I met a lady in the watermelon tasting judging and she took a little video of me trying to do my watermelon seed spitting.
“I did manage to spit a seed about six feet after watching the competitors, and I think if I ever come back I’ll have to try it,” she said. “I’ll do some practice.”
Country music, too, received a ringing endorsement. Coram, who visited FAME Studios during her time in the Shoals, learned that not all country music is the same after hearing different musicians and styles played during the festival. She listened to L.A. Shepherd at Tradition’s Sports Deli on Saturday afternoon and then went to Austin Bohannon’s show on the big stage that evening, afterwards praising all the local talent.
“Country music in the U.K. is like Jelly Roll,” Coram laughed. “The country music here is really good. It’s different.”
Coram’s education didn’t end with music. She said she also enjoyed learning some local and American history, like the fact that Jackson Avenue was named after then-general Andrew Jackson, and, while having a pint at the pub with some new mates, learned that Yeungling is America’s oldest brewery.
Although Coram’s hometown, like Russellville, is relatively small in population—Shepton Mallet had an estimated population of just under 11,000 in 2019—she said that’s where many similarities between the two end. For example:
“There’s so much space,” she said. “Back home it’s very rural, very country and green. But our house is tiny compared to yours and even if we have a bit of a lawn it’s nothing compared to your yards.”
She said the weather here, in her opinion, is “much nicer,” too.
“It’s warm and it’s not raining,” she said. “A British summer is like two nice days of nice weather and then it’s raining for two weeks, so it’s just gray and miserable. It’s been hot, but it’s been really good.”
She also said that an event like the Watermelon Festival doesn’t really happen across the pond.
“We just don’t have things like this at all, really, at home,” Coram said. “Nothing. They don’t have festivals where you close off the entire street. It’s just not something we have.”
Asked what her favorite experience at the Watermelon Festival was, Coram said it was meeting the locals who validated the South’s reputation for charm and hospitality.
“The people are so hospitable and friendly,” she said. “Everyone’s so friendly and everyone says hello. It’s been a really fun time.”
“Everything’s just been so lovely,” she added.
After leaving Russellville Coram said she would head south and perhaps visit some other small towns in Alabama and maybe Georgia, too, before going back into Florida. She hopes to take a line dancing class in Tallahassee and go kayaking in Silver Springs before attending the Coke Zero Sugar 400 race on August 24th. After that it’ll be back to merry old England for Coram, but after her experience in the States she said she would love to make a return trip down the road.
“I didn’t really have any expectations. I didn’t really know what I was coming into. I was just here for the experience and to do something random on a holiday rather than go sit on the beach in Spain or something,” Coram said. “I’ve never come over this way before, and I never really thought I’d come to America, but I really, really enjoy it and I want to come back because it’s been so fun. Baseball games I’ve sort of looked into and I feel like it would be fun to go to other states like Georgia and other places in the South in the future.”
Cheers to that, Lizzie.
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