There's nothing more American than apple pie, but watermelon comes a close second. Watermelon Eating Contests are totally low tech, old-fashioned fun this 4th of July for kids and adults who can compete for eating watermelon the fastest or spitting seeds the longest distance. Some contests even involve rolling the watermelon with your feet to see who can move it the fastest, as shown in an old photo circa 1912 taken in Turlock, California. More & more melons are seedless so event planners must scout out the seed melons for their competitions. Youngsters and adults alike can dive in and chomp their way through the bright red, sweet & juicy food. You can even host your own family & friends contest, too! Just be sure that you wash the watermelon thoroughly in hot water before cutting and using, and if it is a seed spitting contest, make sure you buy seed melons -only 15% of melons contain seeds as consumers prefer seedless these days!

California Watermelon Contests on 4th of July:

• AUBURN Old Fashioned Picnic in the Park watermelon eating contest, auburnchamber.net
• COLUMBIA - Columbia State Historic Park parade, watermelon and pie eating, tug of war. Call: (209) 536-1672.
• DEL MAR San Diego Fair has watermelon eating contests daily through July 4, 2012, sdfair.com
• FREMONT Ardenwood Historic Farm Independence Day Celebration, ebparks.org
• LONG BEACH 4th of July Kids' Bike Parade and Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest, justinrudd.com
• LOS ANGELES 4th of July Jazz and Blues Festival in Leimert Park, watermelon contest
• POLLOCK PINES 4th of July Celebration includes parade and watermelon eating contest, pollockpineca.org
• TAFT Community Picnic Taft Chamber Watermelon Spitting Contest, Taft CofC (661) 765-2165

California Watermelon Festivals

• CHICO Slice of Chico July 14, 2012, downtownchico.net
• SUNLAND-TUJUNGA Watermelon Festival August 10-12, 2012, watermelonfestival.setmysite.com
• VISALIA Downtown Visalia Farmer's Market Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest
• WESTMINSTER Ribs, Pigs & Watermelons Festival August 17-19, 2012, shelterforthehomeless.org

WATERMELON, the colorful vegetable of the zucchini family, is most often thought of as a fruit, and is enjoyed throughout the summer as a sweet dessert, a snack, or enhancement to a variety of dishes, cocktails and beverages. California ranks third in the nation in the production of watermelon, producing around 15% of U.S. crop production. The top counties in California where you will find it growing in fields are: Fresno, Riverside, San Joaquin, Kern and Imperial with a primary growing season of mid-May through October. Production peaks in August with approx. 330,000 tons of melon grown. Statistically speaking, Fresno is the leading watermelon county growing around 45% of all California watermelon. San Joaquin, Imperial, Riverside and Kern come in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th.