Urbana Sweetcorn Festival Welcomes New Steam Engine

The city of Urbana expects to hand out nearly 30,000 ears of corn this weekend at the annual Urbana Sweetcorn Festival. One addition is the new steam engine that will boil all that corn.

Neal Drummer of Mendota arrived in Urbana on Friday morning with his 1920’s locomotive. A long, narrow pipe carries the steam from the engine to a tub filled with water and corn. Illinois Public Media’s Sean Powers caught up Drummer and Evan Peach, who are operating the locomotive.

The Urbana Sweetcorn Festival kicks off at 5pm on Friday, and continues Saturday from 11am until 11pm.