It’s the Super Bowl of cornhole, and its taking place in Ventura County this weekend. Cornhole is the popular backyard game where you try to toss a bag filled with corn through a hold in a board. Tens of thousands of people are expected for the Throw Down Cornhole Festival & Truck Show at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.
"What makes cornhole fun is that it's just great to see the bag when it slides into the hole," said Nathan Sprague of Ojai, who's one of the competitors. "It's just an adrenaline rush."
It’s grown into the world’s largest cornhole Tournament. John Karayan said it started as an end of summer street party in 2009 for Spencer Makenzie Fish Company, his Ventura restaurant.
It's mushroomed in size, to the point where it's been at the Ventura County Fairgrounds for the past few years. By 2014, it was the world's largest cornhole tournament.
"All these people from all over the United States are coming into town. There are parties everywhere," said Karayan. "Every state in the United States is represented, we have about a thousand teams."
He said there's $350,000 in prize money, with the winner getting $40,000. But, aside from the serious teams, anyone who comes to the event can try their hand at it.
David Gonzales and his wife Alejandra Vega from Fresno are among the thousands camped out at the fairgrounds for the festival.
"Cornhole is good times...we love it," said Gonzales. "We bring the family...it's a family event."
Is he good at it? "Not really," he laughed. "I'm being honest...I'm not."
Vega said she just comes for the fun, and the parties.
The festival includes music all weekend long, it's first ever ax throwing tournament, a vintage truck show, and a food festival.
The truck show features square body trucks from the 1960's through the 1980's, with vehicles like Jeeps, Blazers, and Broncos. The food experience has grown from past years to include more than two dozen pop-up restaurants, and food trucks.
