Barbecue and Kentucky campaign previews are on the menu for Saturday’s Fancy Farm Picnic

On the first Saturday in August, thousands of political spectators flock to a far West Kentucky town with a population of about 300 people. 

They are always ready to loudly cheer, boo and wave campaign signs during a church picnic that annually brings together Kentucky Republicans and Democrats vying for office. 

The Fancy Farm Picnic, a barbecue fundraiser for the St. Jerome Catholic Church in Graves County, is where Kentucky politicians go if they want to get a boost ahead of an upcoming election — whether they are on stage flinging zingers at their opponents or in the crowd making connections with party faithful and trying to get a slice of the media attention.  

This year, Kentucky’s top Republican, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, and top Democrat, Gov. Andy Beshear, will not be in attendance, but the line-up of speeches, starting at 2 p.m. Central, will feature candidates hoping to succeed McConnell this fall and set the stage for primary races in the 2027 governor’s race. In addition to the speeches, Republicans and Democrats hold dinners, breakfasts and more events ahead of the picnic. For both, it’s a way to connect candidates with organizers, voters and more during the unofficial start of fall campaign season in the commonwealth. 

Will Carle, a Democratic political strategist, said that McConnell’s and Beshear’s absence is a “passing of the torch” for both political parties. McConnell said last year that he wouldn’t seek reelection, opening the seat. In recent weeks, McConnell has been embroiled in the national spotlight as he was hospitalized in June and has not since been voting in the Senate. Beshear, who some see as a possible 2028 candidate for president, has become the Democratic face of criticizing McConnell, recently penning him a letter to ask for “proof of your capacity to serve, or resign.” 

“I think the party is always stronger when we have our best messenger there, which is Andy Beshear. But you’re going to get to see the next generation of leaders for the party emerge this year at Fancy Farm, and Gov. Beshear will be passing the torch on to one of them to lead our party into the future,” Carle said. 

As for McConnell, Carle added: “I think that this is another passing of the torch for the Republican Party, which is someone that’s been there almost as long as I’ve been alive passing a torch to another person, who both don’t seem to have the best interests of Kentuckians at heart.”

McConnell said in a Monday statement that he remained undergoing “intense physical therapy,” meaning that he would not attend Fancy Farm, which has become a favorite tradition of since his 1984 election. He said there was “no place I’d rather be on the first Saturday in August than with the good people of western Kentucky, feasting on pork and mutton.”

Abby Piper, a Republican who is a co-host of Kentucky Politics Weekly, said that while she believed McConnell “will be with his fellow Kentuckians in spirit this weekend,” she was “grateful he is taking care of his health.” 

“Democrats looking to score political points would be wise to remember the months-long absence of Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein before taking shots in this case or any other,” Piper said, referring to the California senator who died in office as the oldest serving senator at the time. 

On Beshear’s absence, Piper said she wasn’t surprised. Beshear last spoke at the picnic when he was running for reelection in 2023. 

“It’s pretty hard to make time to go out west when you’re running for president,” Piper said. 

Beshear recently told reporters this year’s picnic conflicts with his son’s final travel baseball tournament of his high school career.

Governor’s race

Fancy Farm organizers are continuing a change from last year — allowing primary candidates on the stage. The change in rules, which typically allowed only office holders and general election candidates for the region, means that the crowd will get a preview of the Democratic primary for governor. Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, who has been regularly invited to speak as an elected official, will speak, as well as Rocky Adkins, former Democratic leader in the Kentucky House and senior adviser to Beshear, who launched his campaign earlier this month.

Carle said Saturday is a change for both Coleman and Adkins to give “introductions” for their campaigns. 

“I do think it’s a great way for them to demonstrate their very accomplished careers in public service,” he added. He also thinks Democratic speakers would be best suited to contrast themselves with Republicans nationally and statewide, particularly on affordability issues, such as tariffs enacted by President Donald Trump and Medicaid access. 

“There is a different agenda for the two parties, and I’d be looking for the Democrats to make sure that the voters of West Kentucky are acutely aware of those differences,” Carle said. 

There may be some movement for Republicans hoping to get in the governor’s race, too. Secretary of State Michael Adams, a McCracken County native who confirmed this week he accepted the speaking invitation, told the Lexington Herald-Leader he was considering launching a gubernatorial bid at Fancy Farm. Another rumored GOP candidate, U.S. Rep. James Comer, is a regular at the event and usually brings some of the loudest supporters to the crowd. 

Piper said going to Fancy Farm before launching a campaign is a way for a candidate to get their name out there. She pointed to 2018 when Stephanie Horne attended the picnic and later joined Adkins’ 2019 bid for governor as his running mate. 

“I think Mike Adams could certainly use the stage to his advantage, but Comer is going to be … an intimidating candidate to go against,” Piper said. “I’m not sure I would want to face Comer on a Republican ticket statewide in Kentucky, but it’s early.

Barr and Booker return

Both of the senate nominees have previously addressed the raucous crowd in years past. The Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr was on stage the first time last August with other GOP candidates. Democratic former state Rep. Charles Booker was at the picnic in 2022 when running against U.S. Sen. Rand Paul. While he hasn’t been a regular attendee of the picnic throughout his tenure in office, Paul will be on the stage this week. 

Barr and Booker “both of them are phenomenal speakers,” Piper said, but Barr has “the chops to back it up.” He’s a central Kentucky congressman who was first elected in 2012.

“I think for Barr, the opportunity is to showcase what he can do for parts of the state that he hasn’t represented before now,” Piper said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how those talking points get shifted around for both candidates, quite frankly, to address a more broad audience. Kentucky is a very rural state, a very red state, but Western Kentucky gets left out a lot, and so I think that’s going to be one of those things that has to be balanced in his work.”

However, Carle argued that tenure in Congress means that Barr “has been in a bubble in Washington, D.C. for a long time.” Booker, who also served in Beshear’s administration after a previous run for Senate, grew up in Louisville’s West End and has frequently discussed growing up in poverty. 

“Charles Booker has a unique life experience that allows him to relate to people on a visceral level. He knows what it’s like to struggle, and Kentucky families are struggling,” Carle said. “And I think it’ll be a great opportunity for him to make the case that someone like them should go to the U.S. Senate instead of someone that’s out of touch.”

‘Shoe leather politics’

Saturday will mark the 146th year of the Fancy Farm Picnic. Brian Clardy, a history professor at nearby Murray State University, said that even though the political speaking tends to be a big draw, the picnic provides “a really family-friendly atmosphere” with live music, games for kids, and, of course, the barbecue — ”everything from pork shoulder to mutton.”

“It’s a really wonderful gathering, and anyone who has a passing interest in campaigns and politics and political history should check it out. It’s a historical event in its own right,” he said. 

Fancy Farm is rooted in early American campaigning traditions, Clardy said. When the country was founded, churches and other community organizations would provide spaces for political candidates to give speeches and hold debates. For those seeking office they needed to be out with the people and face their opponents directly, or as Clardy calls it, engage in “shoe leather politics.”

Clardy said he hopes that tradition continues for years to come. 

“I know that it’s very easy now to do a Zoom call, to do a podcast, to send out an email, to go on social media sites, and that’s well good and dandy, and that’s great, but democracy is a contact sport,” Clardy said. “And I want to see that continue where you have the give and take of ideas and raucous debates, so that voters can be informed because democracy, in large part, depends on that.”

Carle said the picnic “will always be a relevant and political event in Kentucky.” 

“I hope that people continue to invest the time that it takes to go there because it’s usually a three-to-four day trip because of all the events that surround it and the energy to go through the gauntlet that it is,” he said. 

Candidates that go and do well “all come out on the better side of it,” Carle added. Fancy Farm “creates the kind of character you want in a candidate to continue down in the home stretch of a campaign.”

Piper said the candidates who have  guts to go out west, whether they’re from there or not,” are doing something “courageous.” The crowd, full of Republicans and Democrats, are not shy when it comes to booing those they disagree with and cheering for what they support. 

The Fancy Farm Picnic’s role in today’s world is a reminder “to get off the screens, to get out in person, to be part of a community,” Piper said. 

“At the end of the day, it’s a church fundraiser, and it’s a place for community. It’s a place for bingo and a place for barbecue and Sun Drop and a little bit of fun — the roasting,” she added. “But also, it’s a time for us all to connect on what we have in common, and it’s not something that happens a lot in the echo chambers online.”