The Zurich Bean Festival is Huron County's biggest single-day event, drawing close to 25,000 visitors.

With Bean Festival just around the corner, a lot of work is being done in advanced preparation for a successful day.

With approximately 25,000 people visiting the small village of Zurich (population 900), a lot of work goes into preparing the meals for the Bean Festival. We turn 2500 pounds of raw white beans into our secret baked beans recipe. There are 180 loins to be cut, coleslaw dished out along with the applesauce. This is all done the week before.

Our event kicks off on Friday night with the annual Cruise Nite, sponsored by the Wrench Benders Club. They leave the Zurich Community Ball Diamonds at 7 p.m. to put on a great parade of antique cars. We had 273 participants in 2005! Friday night ends at dusk with the spectacular fireworks show.

On Saturday be sure to come out to the the ice surface at the Bluewater Community Centre for pancake and sausage breakfast begining at 7 am, followed by a day of fun! Our famous “bean meal” which consists of a smoked pork chop, applesauce, coleslaw, bun and our famous baked beans, is served throughout the day from noon until 6pm. Our midway and street market lasts all day, as does one of the largest custom rod and antiques car shows.

The Zurich Mennonite Youth clean up the whole mess when the party's over. The committee leaves brooms, shovels and dustpans out for them and they literally sweep through after midnight and remove any evidence of 25,000 visitors. All the money raised during the day goes back into local service groups and the community. Without the Zurich Bean Festival, many of the local service clubs would not survive. One of many community donations was a new Zamboni at the arena.

ZBF is also proud to host the 2nd Largest Car Show in Ontario!. In 2005 830 cars were registered and a couple hundred latecomers that weren't registered -- for over 1,000 cars. The Orange County Choppers signature series from New York also made an appearance in 2005.

We look forward to seeing you !

2nd Largest Car Show in Ontario! Midway Over 100 Street Vendors Live Entertainment FREE Admission!