ANNISTON, Ala. — This year's Noble Street Festival expanded its afternoon programming to include a two-division gelatin wrestling competition, held between the 2:00 p.m. criterium heat and the 4:30 p.m. junior bike races. The amateur division ran thirteen minutes, three over the allotted time. The professional division was decisive.
The competition, organized by Main Street Anniston and presented as part of the festival's community programming block, took place in a large plastic kiddie pool positioned on Noble Street near the main stage. The pool was filled with approximately sixty gallons of strawberry-flavored gelatin, which a festival spokesperson confirmed was "the original planned flavor."
The amateur division featured two competitors who were introduced to the crowd only by their first names. Both arrived in casual attire. One wore a t-shirt from the 2024 Cheaha Challenge, which, as the MC noted into a handheld microphone, "goes to show the athletic tradition we have right here in Calhoun County." The other wore a plain white t-shirt. Neither competitor was identified further in the festival program.
Festival officials had billed the amateur division as "a community athletic demonstration." It ran from 2:42 to 2:55 p.m., three minutes beyond the scheduled ten-minute window. A festival spokesperson attributed the overrun to "what officials described as a slip-related delay," and confirmed that no injuries were reported.
A city councilman, whose name was not included in the festival program, presented a trophy to the winner at the conclusion of the amateur division. The trophy was not described in the program. The winner accepted it and stepped off the stage.
The professional division followed at 3:05 p.m. and featured two performers from a Gadsden-based regional promotion, both of whom arrived in full ring attire. The match lasted eight minutes and forty-three seconds. The outcome was not in question after the fourth minute. The performers left the stage without giving statements.
Festival organizers called the addition "a strong complement to the afternoon program." When asked whether gelatin wrestling would return in 2027, a Main Street Anniston representative said the organization was "evaluating all programming for continued alignment with the festival's mission."
The Noble Street Festival, now in its 24th year, drew an estimated 8,500 attendees Saturday. The Sunny King Criterium, the festival's primary event, featured twenty professional bicycle racing heats and nine hours of live web streaming. Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, which has received more than $200,000 from the festival since 2002.
The KidZone inflatable area, relocated this year to the parking lot beside City Hall, was visible from the gelatin wrestling area.
The Green Tomato will continue to monitor Noble Street Festival programming developments. The 25th annual festival is expected to be held in spring 2027.
