past Festival Themes
Each year, the Persimmon Festival Chairman has the opportunity to make their year unique! One way they can do this is by coming up with their own theme for their year’s festival! Listed below are the recorded themes from past years:
| 1948 | Reliance Day |
| 1959 | Air Force and Space Travel |
| 1962 | Lehigh’s 60 Years in Mitchell |
| 1964 | Rededication to the United States |
| 1965 | We Lift Up Our Eyes to These Hills |
| 1966 | A State is but the Body of a Nation. The People Who Inhabit its Hills and its Valleys are its Soul, its Spirit, its Life |
| 1967 | It’s About Time – In This Place; It’s About People And The Human Race |
| 1968 | Freedom is Not Free |
| 1969 | A Salute to Education, The Apprentice of Life |
| 1970 | Happiness is…The Success of the Persimmon Festival |
| 1971 | Silver Anniversary |
| 1972 | Our Autumn Homecoming |
| 1973 | A Historical Review Trimmed in Red, White and Blue |
| 1974 | Uncle Sam Still Stands Tall |
| 1975 | Our Living Heritage 1775-1975 |
| 1976 | Youth–Young and Old Unite Through Heritage |
| 1977 | A Journey Down Persimmory Lane |
| 1978 | Encounter of the Mitchell Kind |
| 1979 | Tradition With a Torch of Tomorrow |
| 1980 | Hoosier Hospitality |
| 1981 | America–The Beautiful |
| 1983 | Progress Through Education |
| 1984 | One of a Kind |
| 1985 | A Tradition of Hospitality |
| 1986 | Freedom The American Way of Life |
| 1987 | Proudly We Stand |
| 1988 | Super Homecoming ’88–42 Years Proud |
| 1989 | Memories for Children of All Ages |
| 1990 | We Will Always Be True to the Gold and Blue |
| 1991 | Volunteers–Making our Community Strong |
| 1992 | Proud to Be an American |
| 1993 | Secure The Future…Invest in Our Youth |
| 1994 | An Autumn Homecoming |
| 1995 | Persimmon Festival ’95…We’re Still Rockin’ |
| 1996 | Celebrating the Past, Looking to the Future |
| 1997 | A Hometown Reunion |
| 1998 | Persimmon Festival ’98…Through the Eyes of a Child |
| 1999 | Uniquely Mitchell |
| 2000 | Soaring Into a New Century |
| 2001 | Building Today for Future Generations |
| 2002 | Our Heritage…Our Future |
| 2003 | From Railroads to Rockets |
| 2004 | A Salute to the Volunteer |
| 2005 | Our Education Foundation–Mitchell Schools |
| 2006 | Sixty Years of Memories |
| 2007 | At Your Service: A Salute to Mitchell’s Service Organizations |
| 2008 | Mitchell Hometown Heroes |
| 2009 | Welcome Home |
| 2010 | Generation After Generation |
| 2011 | Protect & Serve |
| 2012 | Small Town Proud |
| 2013 | Mitchell Athletics–Past, Present and Future |
| 2014 | Shop Local–Buy Mitchell |
| 2015 | Celebrating with the Sound of Music |
| 2016 | Healing Hands, Helping Hearts |
| 2017 | Persimmon City Harvest: Celebrating Farmers & Agriculture! |
| 2018 | “Industries and Businesses Supporting our Community” |
| 2019 | Mitchell Around the World |
| 2020 | NO FESTIVAL |
| 2021 | Investing in Mitchell |
| 2022 | 75 Years of Persimmon Traditions |