Burton Cotton Gin Festival

Join us in Burton, home of the 1914 Burton Farmers Gin, for the 35th Annual Burton Cotton Gin Festival

This is a FREE family friendly event featuring a day full of fun and history! The day begins with a parade through Burton, and continues at the grounds of the Texas Cotton Gin Museum. Shop and eat in our Arts and Crafts Vendor Area and Food Court. Watch Folklife skills demonstrations like blacksmithing, butter churning, spoon carving, and more. Enjoy our Tractor, Engine, and Classic Cars on Display, and take part in fun contests and games. Live Music begins at 11am PLUS we will have two step dance classes at 12:30 and 2pm with Hill Country Two Step! Tours of the Burton Farmers Gin are from 11am to 2pm. At 3pm, the Oldest Operating Cotton Gin in America will come to life, and a bale of cotton will be ginned!

Antique Farm Equipment
Vintage Engines and Tractors
Come and listen to the sounds of antique engines and tractors.  To participate as an exhibitor find an application here.

Arts and Craft Booths
Check out all of the talented arts and craft vendors at the festival!
Click here to view the craft vendor application and rules

Folk Life
To participate as a folk demonstrator, click here.  
Folk Life Demonstrators display their unique, heritage skills for visitors to the Burton Cotton Gin Festival.

Entertainment

Annie Rost and Mike Stroup  (11am-12pm)
Based in Central Texas, Annie and Mike have both been in the music scenes for several decades. This remarkable duo merges bluegrass and Texas country, creating the perfect harmony to start off our Entertainment lineup!

BACK FOR A 2ND YEAR!!!!
Get your groove on with two step dance lessons at 12:30pm and 2pm with Hill Country Two Step.  Then you can spend the rest of the afternoon dancing to some great music!!!! Times subject to change.

​Sean Orr and Texas Gold (12pm- 2:30pm)
Sean (A seventh generation Texan) learned to sing and play the fiddle in the honky tonks and dance-halls across the state of Texas. Later on he toured across America's West and South as both a front-man and a side-man in countless Country bands. In recent years he has played festivals in Canada and Europe and had the privilege of representing Texas, singing and playing Texas style fiddle at the Kennedy Center in Washington D. C. He has worked at Texas AandM as a "guest resident" teaching all things fiddle! Presently he fronts "Texas Gold" a band known for their unapologetic, high-energy Texas Swing, Honky Tonk, and Cajun offerings. He also fronts "Celtic Texas", Irish and Scottish music with Texas brogue. He is also an in-demand studio musician and guest fiddler for numerous bands across the state of Texas.

Das ist Lustig  (2:30pm-4pm)
Gemutlichkeit – a cozy, happy feeling. That’s what you get when “Das ist Lustig” (That’s Fun) plays. Biergarten standards, a little German rock, original folk tunes, even a few Texas dance hall favorites complete with dancers to teach you how!  This is all part of a varied repertoire, performed with pure joy.  Specialty Alpine folk instruments like the Alp Horn, tuned Austrian Cowbells, and a Singing Saw add to their charm and authenticity.  Let this band transport you all the way to the Alps with a memorable afternoon that’s fun for the whole family!

The Czechaholics  (4pm-6pm)
The Czechaholics have entertained hundreds of thousands of people in the state of Texas, since their debut in 2002.  As of today, the group has six highly talented musicians, and are now one of the top drawing Czech Polka bands in all venues they play.  The Czechaholics have formed their own unique, more contemporary, style of music to spark interest in the imaginative youth as well as to gratify the traditional sound for the elder generations.

Parade
Come experience a small town parade with classic cars, floats, a marching band, vintage tractors and more!

Click here for a parade entry form.

Click here for Parade rules and information. For 2024, parade staging will be at the Burton Elementary School