It’s just about turtle time in downtown Perryville.
The annual Snappin’ Chaplin Turtle Derby is an all day event that gets underway at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 22 and lasts throughout the day, leading up to the big event – the turtle race at 7 p.m.
There will be food trucks and vendor booths on both sides of the Chaplin River, music at Baril Park, free inflatables, a Jeep show, a kids corner, carriage rides, ax throwing, putt-putt golf, a dunking booth and a ghost walk.
The turtle derby is an annual fundraiser for the Main Street Perryville program, which sold/adopted 2,000 turtles in 2022 and has a goal of 3,000 for 2023.
Funds raised go toward restoring Dr. J.J. Polk’s home, a historic building on Merchants Row, along with other restoration projects along Merchants Row.
People can “adopt” rubber turtles to race in the Turtle Derby on the race website, www.duckrace.com/perryville. Each turtle is numbered, matching its adoption paper. The first turtle across the line wins $1,000. Second place wins $600. Third place will be $400. One turtle is $5 and a turtle six pack is $25.
Food and marketplace vendors for this year’s event include:
Food
• American Blackbird LLC
• Boyle Co. Middle School FFA
• HogTown BBQ
• Perryville Lions Club
• Poppin’ J’s
• Second Hand Smoke BBQ
• Snowie
• Snack Shack
• Southern Style Mini Donuts
• Tikiz of Lexington
• Toot’s Treats
• Wake & Bake
Marketplace Vendors
• A’s Sand Art
• Arbonne – Nadia Shipley
• Ashley’s Gifts & More
• Battlefield State Park
• Bougie Grannie’s Creations
• Dandelion Novelties
• Danville-Boyle Convention and Visitor’s Bureau
• Glittering Glamour
• Leaf Guard
• Pikeville to Paducah
• The Flower Friends
• Sue’s Sublimation & Creations
• This Little Light of Mine Candles
• Touchstone Crystal
• Trail Treasure Designs
• Treehouse Toons
• Trinkets by Jules
• Trish Marie’s Wellhouse LLC
Find out more about Main Street Perryville here – https://downtownperryville.com/
