Soon, the streets of Mexico will be transformed into a carnival attracting thousands to the downtown area.

The annual Soybean Festival, hosted by the Mexico Jaycees, will be Friday and Saturday.

Past Jaycees president Logan Ray said the festival is not only a way to get people to visit Mexico, but it also gets them into local businesses.

“Ninety-95% of our revenue that we make from the festival stays in Mexico,” Ray said.

Remembering Soybean Festival history

Through the decades, the Soybean Festival has evolved. Events come and go as the times change and the Mexico Jaycees think up ways to keep things fresh while also honoring tradition.

Jim Dye has been involved in the Soybean Festival since he was a Dixie Gray, marching in the parade that is a Soybean Festival tradition. Although he was a trombone player, he carried the base drum.

“They gave soybeans to the kids and bean shooters,” Dye remembers. “The kids would be shooting soybeans at the drum.”

In the early 80s, the Soybean Festival had “Grand Prix” inspired go-kart races, started by Mitch White, speeding through the streets of Mexico.

Also on the list of historic Soybean Festival events that are no longer around today include the port-a-potty races on the square and hydroplane boat races on Teal Lake.

Tony Robertson, president of the Mexico Jaycees in 2000, said the Soybean Festival was huge in the 70s and 80s.

“The time that I was involved in the Jaycees really seems like a bridge between the two best times for the Soybean Festival,” Robertson said.

There was a “lull” in participation as well as attractions in the late 80s into the 90s.

“We’d have a few limited events on Friday night, maybe a live band on the square and then a parade and stuff, and we were done by 2 o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday,” Robertson said.

In an effort to breathe new life into the Soybean Festival, the Mexico Jaycees attempted to move the festival to the 4-H Fairgrounds in the early 2000s. They called it “Agri-fest” as Robertson remembers.

“That worked OK, but it just wasn’t the same as having it downtown,” he said. “There were certain things we could do out there that we couldn’t do up here (on the square) but you’re taking it out of the heart of your community."

But in recent years, Robertson has noticed a resurgence in the festival and the game changer, he said, was the Jaycees ability to have a beer garden, better bands and more adult-focused events.

Soybean Festival 2025

Last year, the Mexico Jaycees used Placer AI and found they had roughly 10,000 different visitors to the Soybean Festival over the course of the two-day event.

“I think this year will be even bigger,” Ray said. “We’ve got some really good bands this year.”

On Friday Monica Austin will perform on the Graf and Sons stage at 6 p.m. followed by Jake Clayton at 9 p.m.

Saturday welcomes Fully Loaded to the stage at 6 p.m. followed by Jacob Smalley at 9 p.m.

“About five or six years ago, we started to commit to having a bigger budget for bands, a much larger budget,” Ray said.

Music is always free at the Soybean Festival, so it is one of the biggest draws, but the carnival is every bit as important.

“The carnival part is always a challenge,” Ray said. “It is very difficult nowadays to find a smaller to medium sized carnival. It’s kind of a dying breed.”

Thankfully, the Mexico Jaycees have been able to pull off a profitable carnival in the roughly quarter-mile square in downtown Mexico consistently.

“Over the years, when you’ve gotten a carnival to come, they realize that the community supports the event and so it’s easier to bring them back after you have had them a time or two,” Dye said.

The Mexico Jaycees are fortunate to have deals with Dagwood’s and Jason Orr, who allow the Jaycees to use their lots for free, and president Gib Graham hosts carnival workers, who bring their RVs to Mexico for the weekend, on his property.

This year’s carnival will run from 5-10 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.

All in all, there will be no shortage of things to do this weekend at the Soybean Festival.

Between the vendor booths from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., parade from 10-11 a.m, car show from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and cornhole tournament from noon to 4 p.m., Saturday’s schedule is jam packed.