Fancy Farm Picnic, time-honored Kentucky political tradition, returns next weekend

FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — It’s the world’s largest picnic and a century-old staple of Kentucky politics, and it returns next weekend.

“It is an old-fashioned picnic surrounded by a bunch of old-fashioned political events. With two hours of the most intense screaming and shouting, in a partisan nature, that you’ll ever see,” FOX 56 News Political Analyst Jonathan Miller said.

It may be an off year for Kentucky’s elections, but this year’s Fancy Farm picnic will be anything but sleepy.

“It is absolutely insane,” Miller said of his experience. “The volume of the crowds that are cheering you on or that are booing or harassing you is at a point where, I could hardly hear my own self-talk.”

Miller faced down the crowds a few times during his tenure as Kentucky’s treasurer. While at that time it was a routinely bipartisan event, Democrats this year will be largely absent. Fancy Farm’s political chairman, Steven Elder, said both sides are always welcome and doesn’t want one to give up on western Kentucky.

“Get back to rural America and the rural part of the state. And I think Fancy Farm is a perfect opportunity to do that,” Elder said.

“There are a lot of politicians that live by the credo, make no mistakes. And, there really often isn’t tremendous upside if you’re a veteran politician going into that environment,” Miller said.

Miller said there’s essentially two Fancy Farms. There are the speeches, a more calculated risk in the social media era, but also the surrounding events, like party dinners, which he’d strongly encourage all politicians not to skip.

This year, many eyes will be on the speeches between Kentucky’s GOP US Senate candidates. Democrats will also have a presence the night before at a political dinner in Paducah.

FOX 56 News will provide live coverage from Fancy Farm. The speeches, interviews, and analysis will get started at 2 p.m. on Aug. 2.