The Marion Popcorn Festival is one of Ohio’s premier festival events, named one of the Top 100 Events in North America by the American Bus Association.
Located in downtown Marion, Ohio, it is the largest popcorn festival in the world annually attracting crowds in excess of 250,000.
For safety and liability reasons, pets are not permitted on the festival grounds.
Marion Popcorn Festival Dates, Times, Location
The Marion Popcorn Festival is held each year the weekend following Labor Day. The festival is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 11:00am to midnight.
The festival takes place in the heart of downtown Marion. Click here to find maps of the festival grounds and directions on getting here.
Marion Popcorn Festival History
The First Marion Popcorn Festival was held in September of 1981. The Popcorn Festival was the idea of a number of local business men that worked with local city officials to organize the festival. It was the intent of the organizers to create a 3-day festival that would promote Marion and offer free, nationally-known headline entertainment. Popcorn was picked because Marion County in Ohio is one of the top growers of popcorn in the United States and Wyandot, Inc. is one of the largest exporters of popcorn in the World.
You can find a history of the main stage entertainment by clicking here.
Marion Popcorn Festival Leadership
The Marion Popcorn Festival is an all volunteer organization led by a Board of Directors.
2019 – 2020 Festival Officials
President – Dean Castanien
1st Vice President – Darl Snyder
2nd Vice President – Daniel Bradshaw
Secretary – Tammy Kelly
Treasurer – Sue Griffiths
Ex-Officio – Robert Baer
There is also a 21-member board of trustees.
Paul Beickelman
Daniel Bradshaw
Mike Hoffman
Tammy Kelly
Robb Koons
Christine Hinton
Marble Miller
Robert Baer
Linda Candel
Dean Castanien
Tom Danner
Marge Ferriman
Scott Shawver
Darl Snyder
Steve Badertscher
Phil Biederman
Dawn Brown
Sue Griffiths
Vince Reed
Connie Rotte
Shelley Rush
The permanent Advisory Board is comprised of:
Norma Castanien
Rex Coldwell
Marge Ferriman
Phyllis Hendrix
Pat Logan
Muggs McGinnis
Devin Needles
Mike Nicolosi
Karen Schafer
Darl Snyder
Thomas White
In memory: Al Brinkman, Pat Regules and Mary Dutton