When: Saturday, December 21st. Registration runs 10-11:30. Games run 12-2.
Where: Ithaca Farmers Market pavilion at 545 3rd Street, Ithaca
Who: You! Everyone! There is a turnip toss for kids 8 and younger, and the Curl is open to everyone else. You sign up and play as an individual, but feel free to form teams and cheer on your teammates. Shirts and costumes are highly encouraged.
What: When you sign up for $10 – you receive a rutabaga or turnip and a free shirt. When it’s your turn – you walk up to the edge of the court and hurl your root veggie as hard as you can toward the target at the other end. At the end of the round – the top 5 ‘bagas closest to the target will go on to the final round. While you’re there you will see the Rutabaga Chorus, the Rutabaga God & Goddess and probably some protestors.
Why: For fun! For healthy competition! To celebrate the wackiness that is Ithaca, and to celebrate the bountiful harvest of the 2019 season.
How: History of the first curl in 1996 – The last Ithaca Farmers’ Market of the season, generally the Saturday just before Christmas, was a particularly cold, blustery day. It had been another long season and the few vendors who were present that day had little idea that they were about to witness history. Camaraderie among the vendors was high that day and customers were scarce. Talk turned to unusual winter sports: Curling of course came up as a topic of conversation. Everyone knew that contestants threw heavy stones on ice at some sort of target. A customer, whose name is forgotten to history, had just purchased a frozen chicken from a vendor, Kim McKnight of Backbone Hill Farm. This fellow got caught up in the spirit of the conversation, as we were all getting a little feisty. With the legs serving as a handle he let his purchase fly down the market floor to the amusement and delight of all in attendance. That was the opening that was needed…all of our wares were fair game. Potatoes, Cinnamon Rolls, turnips, Cabbages were all among the projectiles thrown. Customers joined in with vendors. There were no particular rules or object to our play that day; just going for as much distance as we could with as much style as we could muster. Every throw drew laughs; after all we generally could not imagine doing such things on a busy market day…what a great way to celebrate and let loose on the last market day of the season. One of the vendors there that day was Steve Sierigk of Acorn Designs. Steve recognized potential in the innocent play that day and based on this made a note to create a sporting event for the 1997 season by adding a little more structure. Little did he know the international attention that the “Rutabaga Curl” would become?