Mule Day, an annual celebration of all things related to

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...

s, is held in

Columbia, Tennessee Columbia is a city in and the county seat of Maury County, Tennessee. The population was 41,690 as of the 2020 United States census. Columbia is included in the Nashville metropolitan area. The self-proclaimed "mule capital of the world," Colu ...

, the self-proclaimed "Mule Capital" of the world. Begun in 1840 as "Breeder's Day", a meeting for mule breeders, it now attracts over 200,000 people and takes place over four days. In addition to mules, traditional

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

n food,

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

dancing Dance is an art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or ...

, and

crafts A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

are featured.

History

Thomas Marion Brown leading the First Mule Day Parade in 1934

"Mule Day" has been a popular Columbia tradition for nearly 170 years, since the 1840s. It began as "Breeder's Day", a single day

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

show and mule market event held on the first Monday in May. Over time, "Mule Day" evolved from a single day event into a multi-day festival, attracting thousands of attendees, lasting almost a week. According to its official website, the heavy involvement of Maury County in the mule industry caused the event to grow for a time into "one of the largest livestock markets in the world." In 1933, Thomas Marion Brown had the idea for a Mule Day Parade and Celebration as a way to bring in money to the community. He approached W.D. Hastings of the '' Daily Herald'' and J.J. Johnson to bring this event to life. They went to the Chamber of Commerce and in 1934 the First Mule Day Parade was a reality. Tom designed the Mule Day Crown which is on display in the Maury County Public Library. He was the first Grand Marshal and led the parade for about 7 years. Mule Day suddenly gained wider notice in 2006 when the Mule Day Parade listing in the National Asset Database, a

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

(DHS) list of potential

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

targets, was featured in a

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

article. Mule Day 2020 was cancelled due to Covid-19 Coronavirus. This is the second time a Mule Day celebration has been called off since the inception of the parade in 1937. The first was in 1942 shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor bringing the US into WWII.

Events

Mule Day celebrations include square dances, mule-driving contests,

horse shows A horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer fo ...

, crafts festivals, and

flea markets A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

. Other events include "working mule", "best of breed",

lumberjack Lumberjack is a mostly North American term for workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees. The term usually refers to loggers in the era before 1945 in the United States, when trees were felled us ...

competitions and the Liar's Contest, a rural-themed story-telling competition. Food served at the event includes

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

, roasted

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

, home-made

pies A pie is a Baking, baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweetness, sweet or Savoury taste, savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts (pecan pie) ...

and

funnel cake Funnel cake ( Pennsylvania German: ''Drechderkuche'') is a regional sweet food popular in North America, found mainly at carnivals and amusement parks. It is made by deep-frying batter. History The concept of the funnel cake dates back to the e ...

s. Since 1934, the festival has been highlighted by a "Mule Day Parade" held on Saturday during the celebration. Floats in the parade compete, with winners in each judged category receiving awards such as ribbons or money. There is also a "Grand Marshal" each year during the parade. Some past Grand Marshals include 1998 Pat Summit (former UT Lady VolsBasketball coach), 2000 Lynette Cole (

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020. ...

), 2009 Phil Fulmer (former UT Vols Football coach), and 2012

Guy Penrod Guy Penrod (born July 2, 1963) is an American gospel singer. He is known for his work as the lead singer of the Gaither Vocal Band, a position he held from 1995 to 2009. Career Penrod is a graduate of Liberty University. Starting in the 1980 ...

(gospel music).

Other Mule Day (or Mule Days) celebrations

Benson, North Carolina Benson is a town in Johnston County, North Carolina, United States, near the intersection of Interstates Interstate 95 in North Carolina, 95 and Interstate 40 in North Carolina, 40. Benson celebrates Mule Days on the fourth Saturday of September, ...

, began in 1950. * Bishop Mule Days,

Bishop, California Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is the only incorporated city in Inyo County, California, United States. It is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley within the Mojave Desert, at an elevation of . The city was named after Bishop Creek ...

, began in 1969. * Calvary, Georgia, began in 1973. *

Winfield, Alabama Winfield is a city in Marion and Fayette counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population was 4,845 at the 2020 census, the second largest city in Marion County. History Winfield is a small city situated in northwest Alabama, east of t ...

, began in 1975. *

Ider, Alabama Ider is a town in DeKalb County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 735. It incorporated in October 1973. Geography Ider is located at (34.703941, -85.673983). The town is situated atop Sand Mountain, a few miles ...

, began in 1987.

References

External links

Official site

Maury County, Tennessee official site

Mule Day history article at US Library of Congress
{{coord, 35.6125, -87.0799, type:event, display=title Agricultural shows in the United States Livestock Columbia, Tennessee Festivals in Tennessee Tourist attractions in Maury County, Tennessee May Recurring events established in 1840