mule day 2024

It attracts locals and people from all over the country, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. And this year's Maury County Bridle and Saddle Club Mule Day's Festival promises to be bigger and better than ever.

"This year marks our 50th anniversary," says Parade Director, Mandy Mills," and we're really excited."

The festival celebrates Columbia's heritage as the "Mule Capital of the World" and features mule shows and competitions, live music, food concessions, a parade, and so much more.

Although the actual festival starts Thursday (April 4th) and goes through Sunday (April 7th), things kick off earlier in the week with the much-anticipated wagon train.

"We have a wagon train that starts on Monday, and people come from far and wide to be part of it," Mills says. "They ride through the rural parts of Maury County and surrounding counties and see the beautiful countryside and scenery, and then get here Wednesday and ride into Maury County Park."

Mills says riders with the wagon train send word ahead so people know when they'll arrive and can gather to watch them roll into the park."

Then, it's four days of back-to-back festival events from Thursday to Sunday. There will be food, live music, arts and crafts, and mule shows that include old-fashioned log pulling, jackpot mule races, driving mule shows, a mule pulling contest, and more. 

"On Saturday, we have our mule pull, which is a huge event," says Mills. "It draws a huge crowd. These are mules that go all over and pull blocks on sleds. You'll be amazed at how strong they are."

That's also the day of the annual Mule Day Parade. It's fitting for Mills to help with the parade planning. She grew up in Maury County and has gone downtown to watch it almost every year since she was a child. 

"The only parade I ever missed was the year I had chicken pox," she says with a laugh. "From the time I was born I've been to every parade, and then started coming out to the park. My husband logs with mules, so he brought mules, and we helped start a couple of events, and it's grown from there. We're thoroughly involved with Mule Day and very thankful to be."

The parade, she says, is always full of creative floats and lots of surprises.

"The parade is for everybody. Even if you're not a mule person, we have so many fun floats. Last year, we had a giant solo cup, and people actually got married in the solo cup. There have been a lot of Mule Days where people got married at the parade. It's so much fun. And the parade gives us a chance to celebrate our businesses here in Maury County, and that's important."

The itinerary for each day is posted on the muleday.com website. Tickets to get into the park are $10 per day for an adult, while kids under 12 are admitted for free. A four-day pass is available for $25.00.

Mule Day Festival has something for everyone. 

"People come from everywhere and, despite our differences, enjoy the time together. It's like a big family. You won't meet better people than mule people.