The Gopher Count is an annual community festival held in Viola, Minnesota, United States. Since 1874, the event has been on the third Thursday in June. Some the events include a parade, a tractor show, a nail-driving contest (women only), a pie-eating contest, fireworks, and dancing. Gopher Count is thirteen years younger than Minnesota's longest, continuously-running celebration, Stiftungsfest, which began in 1861.
The festival is named for the practice of collecting a bounty on killed gophers, still paid by the township as of 2009[update], though other aspects of the festival are more actively promoted.
References
edit- Schuett, Dawn (2007-06-21). "At Viola festival, every gopher counts". Rochester Post-Bulletin. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
- Stern, Jane (1978). Amazing America. Random House. p. 298. ISBN 0-394-73410-6.