2026 Knox County Watermelon Festival

08/14/2026

08/14/2026

And just like that, the 2026 Watermelon Festival has come to a close! 🍉

Thank you to everyone who came out, participated, volunteered, sponsored, and helped make this year’s festival one to remember. Seeing our community come together all weekend long is what makes this event so special.

Thank you to Sparklight, Illiana Watermelon Association, Vincennes Mayor's Office, Old National Bank, Downtown Vincennes Association, and all of our community partners who came together to make this event possible!

We’re already looking forward to next year and everything it will bring. Until then, thank you for another great Watermelon Festival! We’ll see you in 2027!🎉🍉

08/13/2026

Congratulations to our 2026 Miss Watermelon winners! 👑🍉

We loved watching each of our contestants take the stage and be part of this year’s Watermelon Festival. A big congratulations to our new titleholders!

Thank you to everyone who participated, supported the contestants, and helped make the pageant such a great part of the weekend.

Miss Watermelon WINNER - Emily Bible

Tiny Miss Watermelon - Hope Katkin
Little Miss Watermelon - Henley Wheeler
Junior Miss Watermelon - Irie Carroll
Pre-Teen Miss Watermelon - Katie Green
Teen Miss Watermelon - Olivia Burcham

08/13/2026

Congratulations to all of our contest winners for the 2026 Watermelon Festival!

Events like this are not possible without our sponsors!
Watermelon Eating Contest - Culver's
Seed Spitting Contest - Visit Vincennes/Knox County
Watermelon Toss - Bill Bobe's Pizzeria & YMCA of Vincennes

Who's ready to show their skills next year?

08/13/2026

A HUGE thank you to all of the volunteers who helped make this year’s Watermelon Festival happen! It really does take a village. 🍉💚

From setting up and helping with events to keeping things moving throughout the weekend, your time and hard work made a big difference.

We truly couldn’t do it without you, and we’re so thankful for everyone who stepped up to help make the festival a success! Our community is amazing! Thanks again!

08/11/2026

What a wonderful day! 👑🍉✨
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this year’s Watermelon Festival Pageant so special! From our contestants and their families to our volunteers, judges, sponsors, and everyone who came out to support them, we are so grateful for each and every one of you.

We loved seeing so many amazing contestants take the stage and be part of this year’s festival. Congratulations to all of our winners and participants! You all did an incredible job! 💕👑

Thank you for helping us continue such a fun Watermelon Festival tradition. We can’t wait to do it all again next year! 🍉

08/11/2026

The 2026 Watermelon Festival was a BLAST!

WOW! What a turnout! We are so incredibly thankful to everyone who came out and made this year’s 5K Color Run our biggest one yet! Seeing so many runners, walkers, families, volunteers, and supporters show up was amazing. 💚

A HUGE thank you to our presenting sponsor, Old National Bank , for helping make this event possible! We are so grateful for their continued support of our community and this event.

Thank you as well to all of our sponsors, volunteers, and everyone who played a part in making the morning so much fun. We couldn’t do it without you!

We’re already excited to see what next year has in store! 🎉

08/08/2026

THAT'S A WRAP on the 2026 Watermelon Festival!🍉
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us this weekend! From volunteers to seed spitters, we appreciate you all and loved seeing the community come together in such a positive way!

Keep an eye out for more photos and recaps coming this week. You might just see you or someone you know having some festival fun! 🎉

08/08/2026

The 2026 Watermelon Contest were a success!!!

Two reigning champs showed their skills and won again in the seed spitting contest. Thanks to the Visit Vincennes/Knox County!

Thank you YMCA of Vincennes for hosting and sponsoring the watermelon toss! It was a blast! Also thanks to Bill Bobe's Pizzeria for sponsoring!

It was a great day of competition, awesome job to everyone!

08/08/2026

KIDS FUN ZONE!!! What more could you ask for watermelon and fun for the whole family!! Come to the kids fun zone! Open till 4:00!