(wikipedia on typha) Typha /ˈtaɪfə/ is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace,[2] in American English as reed, cattail,[3]or punks,
Punk Daze is Punkston's annual festival celebrating its history and region.The event is held on the final weekend of May. It takes up all of main street and some of the side streets, which does cause some traffic issues for people trying to get to the neighboring national park. It also takes over the open space of the walking paths that go north of town along the creek.
Basically a county fair, the festival includes arts and crafts dealers, live music, food and snacks, live animals, games, and rides. The main focus of the festival are the cattails/reeds/'punks' that grow all up and down the creek and lake to the south. It was the punks that helped the original settlers to survive their first year in the region.
Unique festivities include
'Punk' Foods and Meals: Some of these are for educational purposes, showing how the settlers survived and how one could make simple dishes out of the reeds at different times of the year. This is typically performed by some of the local Park Rangers or local natives. Some of the food is made for taste and can either be bought to enjoy or the cook can enter their creations to be judged. Shirley's Bakery is known to enter this competition every year. The local frozen custard shop, 'Custard's Last Stand', always attempts to make a flavor out of the cattail pollen, but it's very hit or miss.
Battle of the Punks!: This is a huge event in which hundreds join in. An entire field of ripe cattails are harvested and kept frozen until the day of this event. In one on one matches, each competitor is wearing protective padding and helmet. They both wield a reed stalk as their weapon. They club at each other until the the plum of the cattail is completely popped and gone. The final four compete at the same time in a single brawl. Willow is the current champion from the previous year.
Eat My Tail: This is similar to a hotdog eating competition, and possibly more dangerous. The first person to "eat" 10 cattails clean wins. Obviously, no one is actually eating them... intentionally. They have to use their mouth to clean the stalk of the seeds. This is now popular to live stream.
Reed Crafts: Hands on lessons in making baskets and mats out of reeds. This also includes examples and demonstrations of how shelters can be made and show how such things helped the settlers survive.
Other events are similar to what you would find at any street fair, including small rides, rigged carny games, and deep fried foods. These are usually stationed along the northern paths where they have more space.
Live music varies from country to rock, played by local bands. Typically covers. Due to the name, there is a paid entry concert on Saturday night for a local or well known punk band. This always worries a number of locals, and extra security brought in. But there has yet to be any serious incidents to occur at this concert. Most common is noise complaints from the locals.
