The Little Village Celebration with a Big Italian Flavor

 

The Pepper Festival began in 1954 as a way to raise funds to build North Hudson Elementary School and has turned into an annual event to assist community organizations throughout the St. Croix Valley. Proceeds from the volunteer-run, non-profit festival are donated to local youth, school, community and service organizations.

How Did It all Begin?

Between 1890 and 1891, the Village of North Hudson grew rapidly as Italians emigrated to work in the railroad car shops. In 1912 the village was incorporated. By 1954 North Hudson needed to raise funds to build and support a new elementary school as it was not part of the Hudson School District (that union came in the late 1950s). What better way to fundraise than to create a Festival, the Pepper Festival, complete with Italian food and a queen coronation.

“The first Pepper Festival was at the site of the old North Hudson School on the corner of 5th Street N and St. Croix Street N. It was an old two-story wood structure and is most remembered for the fire escape tube that was attached to the second floor of the structure” (Hudson Newsroom June 7, 2012). Pepper Fest was then moved to the site of the current school after the new structure was built.

Today North Hudson still operates under it’s own village government and Pepper Fest has continued to honor it’s Italian heritage with homemade Italian food Not only has North Hudson Elementary continued to receive support but so have numerous other community organizations throughout the St. Croix Valley.

 

Fun Facts

  • 1955 An airplane dropped cash and candy for the kids and the parade went from Coulee Road in Hudson to North Hudson

  • 1956 J.P. Patches, Casey Jones and Bill the Cook from WTCN-TV (ch. 11) attended

  • 1957 There was an elephant in the parade that made a big mess on the street

  • 1963 - 1973 Pepper Fest takes a hiatus

  • 1974 Pepper Fest returns; held in Sam’s Italian Restaurant parking lot

  • 1976 The Village buys the land for Pepper Fest Park and the full Royalty Coronation returns

  • 1977 KSTP-TV & WCCO-TV cover the festival

  • 1982 The paper mache pepper fell off the float

  • 1983 The festival opens with a helium balloon release

  • 1985 Pepper Fest float wins East Wind Award at the St. Paul Winter Carnival

  • 1988 90 m.p.h. winds close down the festival immediately following coronation.

  • 1989 Another Winter Carnival Award, West Wind Award

  • 1994 KARE-TV & WCCO-TV cover the festival and the food almost runs out

  • 1996 Queen Alli Pawlenty sets the Royalty Spaghetti Eating Contest record with 9 seconds for 1/2 pound

  • 1998 Royalty wins a record 9 awards, including the St. Paul Winter Carnival Queen of the Snows Award

  • 1999 St. Paul Winter Carnival presents 1999 Royalty with the King Boreas Award

  • 2000 Pepper Fest gave back over $22,000 to the Hudson Area

  • 2004 Pepper Fest celebrates 50 years of HOT STUFF

  • 2005 Royalty sets a new record of winning 16 parade awards

  • 2012 The Club of Pepper Kings builds a new Royalty float

  • 2019 Pepper Fest purchases adjacent land and home to Pepper Fest Park with plans to expand the park and add a community center

  • 2020 Pepper Fest 2020 is canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic