SPAM Jam (formerly known as Cedar River days) is a yearly festival of the popular meat product

Spam Spam most often refers to: * Spam (food), a consumer brand product of canned processed pork of the Hormel Foods Corporation * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ...

. It was held in

Austin, Minnesota Austin is a city in and the county seat of Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River and has ...

, where

Hormel Foods Hormel Foods Corporation, doing business as Hormel Foods or simply Hormel, is an American multinational food processing company founded in 1891 in Austin, Minnesota, by George A. Hormel as George A. Hormel & Company. The company originally fo ...

produces the meat. The festival spanned from July 1 to 7 and includes

fireworks Fireworks are 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 large numbe ...

, parades, games, a

carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

, and of course, the mysterious meat itself. Each year, those who entered the city during the festivities were likely to see copious amounts of blue and yellow (the colors of the packaging), and myriad dancing men and women in large SPAM can costumes. The 2005 event hosted such guests as

Bill Nye William Sanford Nye (; born November 27, 1955) is an American science communicator, television presenter, and former mechanical engineer. He is best known as the host of the science education television show '' Bill Nye the Science Guy'' (1 ...

the Science Guy,

Kurtwood Smith Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943) is an American actor. He is known for playing Clarence Boddicker in ''RoboCop'' (1987), Robert Griggs in '' Rambo III'' (1988), and Red Forman in ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) and '' That '90s Show' ...

, Jerry Turner the auditor and

Jim Belushi James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor and comedian. His television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), ''According to Jim'' (2001–2009), and '' Good Girls Revolt'' (2015–2016). Belushi appeared in fi ...

. Highlighting the 2007 event is the second annual SPAM Fritters eating competition, with 2006 Champion David "Processed Meat Paws" Stauber returning to defend his title mark of 856 fritters ().

Hawaii

Spam Jam is currently celebrated annually in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

during the last week of April where it is quickly becoming one of the state's most popular festivals because of its great food and entertainment in a family-friendly atmosphere. Local residents and visitors alike have made this an annual tradition. In 2009, an estimated 20,000 people attended the event. Kalakaua Avenue, the main street in Waikiki, is closed to car traffic during the event, and various entertainment stages are set up on the street. Between the stages, several of Honolulu's finest restaurants will be serving up Spam in many different ways. Several merchandise tents sell Spam-themed items including T-shirts, shorts, sport balls, and slippers. A variety of Hawaiian craft booths will also be set up on the street. Introduced in 1937 by Hormel Foods, more Spam is consumed per person in Hawaii than in any other state in the United States. Almost seven million cans of Spam are eaten every year in Hawaii.

External links

* {{Hormel Food and drink festivals in the United States Tourist attractions in Mower County, Minnesota Hormel Foods Festivals in Minnesota Festivals in Hawaii Spam (food) Waikiki April observances Organized events in Honolulu Annual events in Hawaii Annual events in Minnesota