Highlights from festival Watermelon Eating contest

HOPE – The Watermelon Eating Saturday contest had contestants from many places including Chicago, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Gainesville, Louisiana as well as Conway, Emmet, Fulton, Texarkana, Vandervoort, Cabot, and Blevins.

One of the contestants in the adult category was a tomato eating champion.

The winners of the youngest age group were Indigo Angel 3rd place, Harper McManahan 2nd place and Brandon Jones 1st place.

For ages 8-16 the winner was Tyler Atkinson 1st place.

The winners for the oldest group were Horton Brown 3rd place, Kimmie Burkhalter 2nd and Bobby Nully 1st place.

The overall champion was Tyler Atkinson.

All photos by Eric Mclaurin