“I thought I was going to fall off!” said eight year-old Bessie Spielman after getting off the mechanical bull at Riverside Park during the Whiskey Flat Days festival.

An estimate of 50,000 people attended the annual Whiskey Flats festival in Kernville this year.

The festival consists of many thrills and exciting activities, and it is held on President’s day weekend. On Saturday the town gets together to watch the Whiskey Flat parade down Kernville road.

The parade shows floats from all walks of life. Some are dressed like cowboys and others are Indians. Kern Valley High School and Cerro Coso Community College also enter the parade and promote their school spirit.

The festival also has square dancing, an Indian encampment, carnival rides, food vendors, a melodrama, live music, face painting, fishing for live trout for the little ones, a Whiskey Flat mayor election and even a mechanical bull.

The festival is held every year on President’s day weekend. It is a celebration of the old town of Whiskey Flat that existed under what is now Lake Isabella.

Many of the town folk dress up in old western attire, and participate in the different activities that are put together by members of the Kernville Chamber. The festival brings a lot of life into Kernville during the dead of winter months.

The Whiskey Flat celebration started in 1957.

“We still rely on this celebration 55 years later to help us survive through the winter months up here in a town of only 1,860 people,” said Cheryl Borthick, president of the Kernville Chamber of Commerce. “That’s why it’s in February, and we always pray we have decent weather for the festival.”

The name Whiskey Flat dates back to a couple of years ago. Some believe that the town acquired its name from all the saloons that were located within the town. Others date history back to the 1860’s when Adam Hamilton set a plank on top of two Whiskey Barrels and called it Whiskey Flat.

“Some of the folk, mainly the ladies, decided it was a very unbecoming name for their town and renamed it Kernville,” said Borthick.

A lot of people that visit the festival like to go for the food. There are many different food vendors; some of the most popular by the visitors are the Indian tacos, kettle corn, and the Sausage King.

Tanika Waye, a local of Kernville, commented on the event.

“This is my third year coming to this and I come here because of the food,” Waye said. “It’s really good.”