Once more, the Soybean Festival brought out plenty of people taking in a chance to celebrate Mexico and its own unique signature.

This past weekend, approximately 4-5 thousand persons attended the 2022 edition of the festival that once again held primarily on town square, according to Mexico Jaycees bookkeeper Kate Becker, who also oversaw much of the organization of the event.

The Jaycees are a main cog in the setup of the festival.

“This year, we had a new carnival, the emergency expo, a new car show organization, a different beer distributor, and great bands,” Becker said. “This wasn’t the biggest parade, but we still had a great showing with several new entrants.

“How cool was it that we had bagpipes?”

Despite some in attendance during the festival saying they felt the festival seemed a bit “smaller” in recent years, Becker said that the festival has done well in the past three events that fell within the dates of the pandemic.

“We never really had a downturn in attendance due to COVID,” Becker said. “We skipped a year and then the next year had a record turnout. Our biggest COVID-related struggle was that our previous carnival company folded.

“We called over 60 companies before we found this one. It’s hard to get a carnival to travel and set up for just a day and a half of work.”

The festival took plenty of sweat and grind to get off the ground and Becker shared just what it all needed to have happen.

“So much work goes into planning Soybean,” Becker said. “We have over eight committees from entertainment, sponsors, vendors, etc. It truly takes a village of Jaycees to put this event on. It also takes a lot of sponsors, volunteer  workers, and good community partners like the Village Square Association and of course the City of Mexico.

“The City alone helps with tourism funds, barricades, public safety officers, picnic tables, trash cans, etc. We also do listen to community buy- in. We moved the parade back an hour for cooler weather, we hired a different carnival that would sell wristbands, and we tried a new line of beers.”

The Jaycees walked away from this year’s festival with plenty of pride.

“We pour so much community love into pulling it off,” Becker said. “We are grateful for everyone that came out even if it was just to watch the parade. It’s all for our community and any proceeds made go right back into it.

“From scholarships, foster kid Christmas presents to all accessible camp registration fees; we do this so we can give back.”

The future is always up for discussion on what Mexico could see at the next Soybean Festival, according to Becker.

“We are always up for reasonable suggestions for 2023 and thank those that understand that we are all volunteers with full-time jobs,” Becker said. “If you’d like to get involved or have a positive suggestion please seek one of us out.”

Reactions from the parade

Richard Twells, of Mexico, and his wife took part in the parade and said they have been partaking in the pomp and circumstance for many years.

“I think it’s very important because it brings the whole community together,” Twells said. “I think the community looks forward to it. It’s a good-sized parade. We taught at Missouri Military Academy, and we always like to come down and watch the boys march by. That’s our favorite thing.”

A resident of 40 years, Howard Christian was enjoying some tasty vendor treats as he awaited the parade to start.

“To me it’s like a reunion of people coming back to celebrate,” Christian said. “It’s big for a small town – especially with COVID. They haven’t slacked off. The parade is big and it’s nice for a small town.

“They do a good job. It’s one of the biggest, small town parades and it’s really well organized.”

Christian said the Soybean Festival truly symbolizes what Mexico is about.

Rachel Cravens, an Audrain County resident, works on the square and she said it provides Mexico something to do and is a nice opportunity for vendors.

“As a parent with older kids, the rides and stuff (are fun),” Cravens said. “Honestly, I enjoy just sitting back and watching people out the windows. I have been trying to watch, but we also have to work too.”