A great festival needs to end with a great event.

The finale of each PurpleHull Pea Festival is the Pea-Stompin’ Street Dance, this year to be held in the “V” of the Emerson High School. A live band entertains the crowd beginning at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, June 27. At the conclusion of the Pea-Stompin’ Street Dance, the festival comes to an official close.

And in 2020, we’re thrilled to announce The Purple Hulls has agreed to headline the Pea-Stompin’ Street Dance.

For more information on The Purple Hulls, go to their website: www.thepurplehulls.com.

It’s going to be a great evening. The band begins playing at 8:00 p.m. Shortly after 9:00 p.m., maybe about 9:10 or so, the band will take a break, and the Pea-tacular Fireworks Show will take place. After the fireworks show, the band resumes playing.

In short, it’s a two-for-one event – a great band, plus a great fireworks show. And absolutely free.

So bring a lawn chair Saturday night and enjoy the festival’s evening atmosphere, while the get-up-and-shake-something sounds of The Purple Hulls waff over Emerson.

Some historical information of interest about our dance:

In 1991, our second year to hold the festival, the PurpleHull Pea Festival plowed new ground when it held the very first Pea-Stompin’ Street Dance, making Emerson history in the process.

It was historic because, to the best of anyone’s memory, it was the first organized dance ever held in Emerson. (As a consequence, Emerson has never been known for an abundance of quality, hopping honky-tonks.)

No doubt, prior to 1991, some residents of Emerson had experimented with dancing in the privacy of their own homes. But there had never been an organized dance – one that was actually advertised out in the open. Never a high school dance; not even a prom dance. Certainly never a church dance. Never even a Sadie Hawkins dance.

Never, that is, until that daring first Pea-Stompin’ Street Dance in 1991.

But that’s typical of the PurpleHull Pea Festival – always pushing the envelope.

As a result of the festival’s initiative, Baylor University followed our lead and began having dances some five years later.

So, when you come to the PurpleHull Pea Festival, consider sticking around until evening time when the air is cane syrup thick, and just as fragrant, and enjoy watching some old-time inhibitions being cast aside. And remember to bring a lawn chair to rest your legs and catch a breath between sessions.

See you there!