Pimento Cheese Festival

Masters weekend in the South already belongs to pimento cheese. In Downtown Cary Park, North Carolina, it gets an entire festival.

On Saturday, April 11, the Pimento Cheese Festival returns to Downtown Cary Park, where it transforms into a lively Southern food celebration dedicated to the region’s most iconic spread. Now in its eighth year, it has grown into the nation’s only festival devoted entirely to pimento cheese, drawing more than 50 chefs, food trucks, and vendors serving inventive dishes built around the classic ingredient.

Past menus have featured pimento cheese dumplings, pupusas, sushi rolls, brisket-topped jalapenos, and even pimento cheese ice cream with candied bacon. Local restaurants compete in the Pimento Cheese Marketplace, where guests sample signature recipes and help crown the festival’s best cheese creation.

Beach music legends The Embers keep the Great Lawn dancing, while a closest-to-the-pin golf simulator channels Masters weekend spirit with the winner receiving Cary’s own Orange Jacket. Kids can tackle a life-sized Mouse Trap game, and brave competitors test their skills in the crowd-favorite pimento cheese sculpting contest.

Part Southern food festival, part community celebration, Cary’s Pimento Cheese Festival proves one thing: pimento cheese isn’t just a spread — it’s a tradition worth traveling for.