Delmarva Chicken Festival Will Celebrate 100th Birthday of the Broiler Chicken

With 15 food trucks on hand, no one will leave the Delmarva Chicken Festival hungry. Honoring the festival’s tradition of not-to-be-missed fried chicken, the Salisbury Lion’s Club will be serving chicken prepared in their famous large frying pan, and tasty offerings from many other food vendors will be available, including Phat Boyz Catering, Petes PeteZa, Get BAKED Food Trolley, Big Bad Wolf Bacon, Waffle n Drizzle, and The Street Kitchen, along with a beer tent. Visitors can also browse a marketplace and community service showcase with more than 50 vendors. Delmarva’s five chicken companies – Allen Harim Foods, Amick Farms, Mountaire Farms, Perdue Farms, and Tyson Foods – are presenting sponsors of the 2023 Delmarva Chicken Festival.

Delmarva Chicken Association, in the years when it was known as Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc., organized an annual festival from 1948 (first called the Chicken of Tomorrow Festival) until 2014, when the Delmarva Chicken Festival served its last wing and drumstick… until now. The 2023 festival will pay homage to the long-running festival’s traditions, but with a modern twist, focusing on local food, live music, and family-friendly attractions. This year, DCA’s “Growing For 100 Years” campaign celebrates the 100^th anniversary of Delmarva’s chicken industry, which began in 1923 with a broiler flock raised by Ocean View, Del.’s Cecile Steele, as well as the 75^th anniversary of the founding of DCA.