Five days of parade, carnival and music, with steamed corn sold only on Saturday and Sunday at Angell Park each August.
The Sweet Corn Festival Sun Prairie holds each August stretches over five days, yet the steamed corn is sold on only two of them, Saturday and Sunday. The parade, the carnival, the beer tent and the bands all build toward those two afternoons, when the corn building at Angell Park opens and the line starts to grow. What follows covers when the festival happens, how the corn is sold, where to park, and the things the organizers do not settle far in advance.
When is the Sweet Corn Festival?
The festival is always held the third full weekend of August at Angell Park, 200 Park Street, and it runs five days, from a Wednesday-night parade through Sunday. The Sun Prairie Chamber of Commerce listed the 2026 festival for August 19 to 23. As of late October 2026 the festival's own site shows August 18 to 22, 2027, with the daily schedule still marked to be announced.
Sponsored
Treat any single date as a pattern rather than a promise: third full weekend, Wednesday to Sunday, steamed corn on the last two days. Confirm the exact days and hours at sunprairiecornfest.com before you book a room or take time off.
How the corn works
The corn is steamed, buttered and salted, and it is sold from a corn building on the lower grounds on Saturday and Sunday only, until supplies run out. The festival's site says it serves 80 tons of Wisconsin-grown sweet corn, while Wikipedia says over 70 short tons, so the exact figure depends on whom you ask. A local radio station reported in August 2026 that organizers expected about 80 tons, roughly four semi-truck loads across the two days.
Hot corn costs money, and it has since 1979, when the festival stopped giving it away. The festival's FAQ lists cooked corn in totes at $15 each in cash or $16 by credit card, and uncooked corn at $15 per grocery bag while supplies last. It explains that the steaming takes hours to set up, which is why steamed corn is sold only on Saturday and Sunday.
Serving hours differ by source. The Chamber's 2026 event page gave Saturday noon to 7 p.m. and Sunday noon to 6 p.m., while the FAQ says noon to 6 p.m. on both days or while supplies last. Go early in the window, because a festival that sells about 80 tons in two days will not wait for the last half hour.
A Wisconsin State Farmer column from 2019 described how it is done: fresh corn arrives in semi loads, is steamed in five retorts inside a two-story building a short distance from the grounds, and is hauled to the corn building, where volunteers husk it and add butter and salt. The column named a food processor and the Coloma area that year, while NBC15 in 2023 put the corn near Plover, so the supplier changes with the season.
Where the festival came from
The first Sweet Corn Festival took place on August 29 and 30, 1953, when about 6,000 people ate 13,000 ears of corn with 200 pounds of butter. The Oconomowoc Canning Company was the principal sponsor that first year.
It did not start at Angell Park. The column says the first two festivals were held on a city street, and the move to the park came in 1955. A 2026 radio write-up says it began behind the Bank of Sun Prairie, so the sources disagree on the first street. A local radio write-up called 2026 the 73rd annual festival, and the 2019 column adds that the festival claims to be the oldest event of its kind in Wisconsin.
Today the Chamber of Commerce coordinates it and local nonprofits share the proceeds. The Chamber's 2026 event page named VFW Post 9362, American Legion Post 333, the Sun Prairie Exchange Club, the Sun Prairie Lions and the Knights of Columbus. The former Fuhremann Canning factory was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
What happens across the five days
The festival splits into a downtown opening and four days at the park. As a worked example, here is the 2026 plan, which later years may change.
Wednesday opened with a parade at 6 p.m. and a block party in Cannery Square with live music. Because of the Main Street reconstruction, the 2026 parade took a new route: it started in front of JW Interiors, ran down East Main Street and turned onto Bristol Street, ending at Bristol and East Linnerud Drive. Thursday and Friday were carnival wristband nights from 6 to 10 p.m., and Friday added live music.
Saturday and Sunday are the full days. In 2026 the carnival ran noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday, and the food vendors, Kids Corner, Family Stage and business booths were open both afternoons. A corn eating contest ran on Saturday with limited sign-up at the Chamber booth by the upper-grounds gate. The Badger Midget Auto Races closed the weekend at the speedway on Sunday, with time trials at 4 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.
A local radio write-up estimated about 75,000 visitors across the five days in 2026. One carnival rule matters before you arrive: the FAQ says the carnival does not take debit or credit cards, so bring cash. Visitors reviewing the park mention a corn eating contest, plenty of corn and rides for young and old, with one writing that the event has grown through the years while the corn stays the same.
Parking, admission and getting around
Angell Park is a few blocks from downtown, near the intersection of Highway 19 and Highway N, and the festival site says to follow the signs. In 2026 onsite upper-grounds parking cost $10 a car, including park entry, from Friday night through Sunday, with the lot entered from Highway N. Walk-ins paid $2, and the same fee applied if you parked off the grounds.
Those numbers move. An earlier regional event page showed onsite parking at $5 a car, so check the current rate on the festival site before you go. Double parking is prohibited and vehicles can be towed, handicap spaces need proper tags, and the Chamber's event page says pets are not allowed (service animals excepted) and carry-ins are not allowed.
A cash machine sits on the lower grounds by the pavilion. Off the grounds, the festival lists Bank of Sun Prairie at 228 East Main Street and the Kwik Trip at 1252 West Main Street. The festival's pages mention no shuttle, and the FAQ leaves accessibility questions unanswered, so call the Chamber at 608-837-4547 if you need specifics.
Make a day of Park Street
The festival fills the same ground as a cluster of everyday attractions, all within about 0.3 mile, and they are worth knowing about before or after the crowds. The park, playgrounds, speedway and ice arena on Park Street make a fuller day than the corn alone.
Next door, the Sun Prairie Dream Park is the better stop for children who have had enough of lines. It sits about 0.1 mile from the park's main grounds, and the park's site says its public restrooms are open from May 15 to October 15, which covers August. Reviewers say the restrooms are sometimes locked, so plan around that on a crowded weekend.
If the August sun wins, the Sun Prairie Ice Arena is about 0.2 mile south of the park grounds, with two rinks and public skating. Its public session times are not posted on the arena's site, so call 608-318-5423 to see whether a cool-down is on offer that weekend.
Where to stay and eat
Three local hotels offer festival rates, the Quality Inn & Suites and the Super 8. The site says to ask for the Corn Fest discount, and the town's hotels differ in distance from downtown and in what they include, so compare before you call.
Outside the festival's own food stands, the town's other restaurants are the fallback for anyone who wants a table.
The rest of the town, from a marsh loop to downtown shops, fills out a longer weekend; start with the full town guide.
What the festival does not tell you
The 2027 schedule, wristband price and performer lineup were all marked to be announced on the festival's site. The wristband price appears as TBD in the FAQ, and the lineup arrives later.
Weather changes fairground hours, and a five-day event at a city park draws a crowd. Arrive with cash, comfortable shoes and patience for the corn line. A festival that began with 13,000 ears in 1953 now measures its corn in tons, and the line is part of the deal.
Pick Saturday or Sunday, go when the corn building opens, and the whole five days reduce to one hot ear of corn and a napkin.
Frequently asked questions
Published November 2, 2026
