Julia Phillips can remember the Buckwheat Festival days of her childhood spent looking up to Queen Ceres, but never imagined herself standing in the queen's place, waving to a crowd of starry-eyed youth from a purple, silver and gold parade float. This week, years later, that’s exactly ...
Ella Seese grew up as one of five princesses in her family. That is, she and her four sisters have served on the Preston County Buckwheat Festival's children's court, reigned as junior and senior princesses alike, and now, Seese will serve as the First Maid of Honor to Queen Ceres ...
In previous years, William Estep has admired friends who served on the Preston County Buckwheat Festival’s Royalty Court and saw the ways their experiences on that court enriched their lives. For the 82nd Buckwheat Festival, Estep decided to step away from the sidelines and put himself out ...
A young girl at the Preston County Buckwheat Festival stands next to her mother, sharing a funnel cake. As they watch the Royalty Court's parade float pass by, the girl turns to her mother, declaring, "I want to be one of the princesses!" Barely a decade later, Olivia Coombs has followed ...
Photographs fill the homes of Kaden Hayes and his family depicting his uncle, aunt and cousins during their reigns on the Preston County Buckwheat Festival's Royalty Court as various chapters of King Buckwheat and Queen Ceres. For this year's 82nd Buckwheat Festival, Hayes will join ...
For this year's King Buckwheat, the 82nd Preston County Buckwheat Festival will no longer be just an opportunity to compete against friends in the fair's livestock barns, but a chance to represent his county and the agricultural industry. Since age 10, the Buckwheat Festival has been an ...