Monroeville continues its observance of Truman Capote’s centennial year with the annual Fruitcake Festival, Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Old Courthouse Museum on the town square. The all-day event celebrates the holiday dessert immortalized in “A Christmas Memory,” Capote’s enduring Southern literary classic, with fruitcakes and readings.
Fruitcake sales begin at 9 a.m., and a dramatic performance brings Capote’s nostalgic story of young Buddy and his elderly cousin Sook to life in the courtroom at 6 p.m. Mobile actor E.A. Keeble (Sook) will be joined by Charlie Paragone (Buddy) and Bill Watts (narrator). Admission is $10 and includes a holiday reception with fruitcake, of course! Tickets may be purchased at the door.
Capote’s tender Depression-era tale of family, friendship and fruitcakes is set in Monroeville – just a few blocks from the Courthouse – where Capote spent his childhood with his elderly cousins, the Faulks. The short story is one of Capote’s most popular works and is built around an annual ritual of making 30 fruitcakes as Christmas presents for people ranging from a bus driver to President Franklin Roosevelt.
The story begins on a chilly autumn morning with Sook standing at the window to utter the famous line, “It’s fruitcake weather!” Annual readings of “A Christmas Memory” have become holiday traditions for families, theaters and libraries across the U.S., but nothing can match the thrill of hearing the story just steps from where Capote grew up.
The festival is presented by the Monroe County Museum’s Endowment Board and the Monroeville Literary Festival. The South’s best fruitcakes will be for sale throughout the day! Some of Monroeville’s best cooks will dust off their favorite family recipes to prepare fruitcakes for sale. Fruitcakes will be labeled with images inspired by the museum’s Capote collection. Some cakes come with written recipes or descriptions of family fruitcake memories – right down to the type of bourbon adding kick to the cake.
Since the 1930s setting of “A Christmas Memory,” fruitcakes have moved from a holiday essential to the butt of holiday jokes. The citizens of Monroeville believe the bad press is unwarranted and encourage everyone to at least sample fruitcake. To that end, small fruitcakes will be sold for those who aren’t quite ready to try a large cake.
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