WOODLEAF — The annual Woodleaf Tomato Festival will spread over two days this weekend instead of just one.
First, a 5K evening run called the Tomato Trot will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Registration begins at 6:15 p.m. and entertainment will start at 7 p.m. Register at Active.com or email tomatotrot@yahoo. com.
Pre-registration costs $20 and guarantees a T-shirt. The day of the race, the cost for registration is $25.
Saturday’s Tomato Festival activities will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 885 Woodleaf Barber Road. The parade begins at 10 a.m.
The festival is sponsored by Unity Presbyterian Church to raise money for its new fellowship hall.
The main stage will have a variety of events, including clogging, pageants, group singings and individual singings.
Also featured at the festival will be a silent auction, an attic sale, a craft show, a tomato recipe cook-off, live music and entertainment.
Traditional pageants and contests include the Ms. Tomato Queen contest, the Lil’ Tommy Toe contest, the Lil’ Miss Mater contest and the Little Mater Sprout contest.
The parade line-up will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Woodleaf Elementary School, and there is no entry fee. The parade will feature antique tractors, which will be on display throughout the day.
Applications are being accepted for the craft show, and the cost for a craft booth is $25.
The Tomato Cook-off accepts any dish made with tomatoes. Food items will be accepted without an entry fee until 11 a.m. the day of the festival, and judging will be at 11:30 a.m.
Men must dress as women to compete in the Ms. Tomato Queen. The crowning is scheduled to happen at noon.
The Lil’ Miss Mater and the Lil’ Tommy Toe pageants are open to children ages 6 and under, and the Little Mater Sprout contest is open to children 18 months and younger.
Food available throughout the day will include tomato sandwiches, ham biscuits, hot dogs, snacks, bake sale items, beverages and ice cream. Fresh produce will also be available for sale.
Tomato Festival T-shirts, church cook books, tomato jewelry and other tomato items will be available for sale. Door prizes will be given away to folks who register at the information table.
The youth will sell “Tomato Splats,” which are tomato look-a-likes that splatter when thrown and then go back to their original shape.
For more information, call the church at 704-278-4248 or email woodleaftomatofestival@yahoo.com.

Woodleaf Tomato Festival
Saturday Schedule
9:00 – Welcome
9:05 – WRHS Band National Anthem
9:10 – Broke N Lonesome
10:00 – Tomato Festival Parade
10:30 – Home Grown Maters
10:45 – The Lutheridge Cloggers
11:30 – Youth pageants
12:00 – The Yorks
12:45 – Crowning of Miss Woodleaf Tomato Queens
1:15 – Cook-off and Woodleaf Tomato Contest results
1:45 – Stephen Allred with Crucifixed
2:45 – DayStar
3:45 – Broke N Lonesome
4:15 – Closing