KY Festival Features the World’s Largest Stainless Steel Skillet

Having just returned from a vacation in eastern Kentucky, I can highly recommend visiting that region of the Commonwealth in the FALL. It's beautiful enough in late summer, but those mountains awash with autumn colors? Fuhgeddaboudit.

Seriously, cooler temps and tableaux of red, orange, and yellow really ARE enough of a reason to spend time in Appalachia, but I'll give you one more...CHICKEN, and lots of it. Since Corbin KY--in the mountains' foothills--is the home of the Sanders Cafe & Museum (as in Colonel Sanders) and the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken, it makes perfect sense that there's a World Chicken Festival in eastern Kentucky, and it's about 14 miles up the road in London.

The World's Largest Stainless Steel Skillet

That's the World Chicken Festival from the air; when you're on the ground, you can get a better look at the world's largest stainless steel skillet. And no, it's not just a show piece; they put this thing to work.

It is 10 feet 6 inches wide, 8 inches deep, and weighs 700 pounds. It can hold 300 gallons of cooking oil and fry 600 chicken quarters at one time. Hey, if you're hosting the World Chicken Festival, you need to be able to make a LOT of chicken all at once.

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These folks visited in 2023 and have given us a de factor documentary about their trip:

The World Chicken Festival's Origins

The festival was born of a desire to combine Laurel County's history, family entertainment, and non-profit organizations into one big tourist-attracting event. And since 1989, the World Chicken Festival has been exactly that--one of Kentucky's biggest festivals.

If you're looking for a fun early fall getaway, the World Chicken Festival happens September 26th through the 29th in London KY. Surround yourself with fabulous fall weather, lots of great music, fun, and, of course, mouth-watering chicken prepared in the biggest stainless steel skillet on the planet.