Cary’s sixth annual Pimento Cheese Festival took place on Saturday, April 13. Located in Downtown Cary Park, food trucks, small businesses and vendors gathered together to serve food and free samples.
In a grassy area, there were over 10 tents with businesses selling pimento cheese at each. Some food items included mac and cheese, cheese and crackers, biscuits and many more.
One of the pop up tents, Chef Jaime, specialized in pimento cheese on crackers. The CEO and entrepreneur behind this business, Jaime Lawing, shared her story. “Whenever I worked as a chef everyone always complimented my pimento cheese and chicken salad, which really created an opportunity for me,” Lawing said.
She’s been focusing on perfecting her pimento cheese since 2013 when she realized it was the food she was best at making. “My friends and family all really loved it and constantly requested that I make it, which showed me that it was something special,” Lawing recalled.
Outside of her culinary services, Lawing exclusively sells pimento cheese which is what drew her into this festival. She said, “I knew I had to come here so I reached out to the Downtown Cary Park Instagram and was lucky enough to get one of the last two spots.” Although it’s Lawing’s first year at the festival, she said she and her team plan on coming back for many years.
While the main attraction of the festival is pimento cheese, many people also come for food trucks and other activities located on nearby streets, such as Academy Street and Kildaire Farm Road. On these roads was the largest portion of food trucks, with 10 on Academy Street and 7 on Kildare Farm. There were many different cuisines ranging from Greek to Mexican food, drawing large crowds.
The cheese festival garnered national fame, drawing in families from across the United States. Dave Simon’s family visited the festival last year and made the trip all the way from Cleveland, Ohio to return to this year’s Pimento Cheese Festival.
“The reason I had such a good time last year and wanted to come back was for the food. It truly doesn’t get better than this,” Simon said. He considers himself a pimento cheese enthusiast, believing that “pimento cheese should be one of the five main food groups.”
Other than the food, Simon highlighted the festival’s uniqueness. “I’ve never been anywhere else that had a pimento cheese festival. Plus there are so many interesting activities that I enjoy here and I can’t wait to see the cheese carving,” Simon said.
At the heart of the festival, Sarah Kaufmann, well known as “The Cheese Lady,” carved three cheddar cheese blocks into various sculptures of animals or scenery. Her carvings are considered staples of the Pimento Cheese Festival.
The festival also included activities and games for visitors, including a soccer game for kids wearing oversized hamster balls. On the lawn section, the band Wake Moody played live music in hour increments for the entire festival.
The festival was pet friendly, with many visitors bringing small and large dogs. There were also exotic animals, with someone even bringing their iguana on a leash.
This year, the crowd for the pimento cheese festival almost doubled from last year and the festival continues to gain popularity. People travel from out of state to enjoy the annual activities, making the festival a significant symbol of North Carolinian community and hospitality.
