Sumiton Frog Festival

The story of the origin of the Sumiton Frog Festival, as has been told down through the years, began with an old Italian immigrant named Luigi Santorellini, who settled in a section of northern Alabama that reminded him of his home in the old country.  The area had many ponds and streams teeming with fish and frogs, so many frogs in fact that one year Luigi happened to gather a whole mess of them because they were overrunning his property.  He said that he must have caught about a ton of them.  He decided to share them with his family, friends and neighbors so he sent his seven oldest children - the youngest three hadn’t yet begun to talk - out to the surrounding countryside to invite everyone over to help dispose of the frogs.  He told his children to tell everyone “My papa he’s-a gott-a some-a-ton-a frogs and-a he’s-a gonna share-a dem which-a every-a-body so come on over to da place-a and-a help wit da festival”.

Well, people did come from all over and help dispose of the frogs, and after a while, Luigi brought out his concertina and played some of the songs from the old country.  Someone else appeared with a four-string guitar, somebody else pulled out a fiddle, and pretty soon everyone joined in with a favorite tune of theirs.  As the group began to break up, everyone agreed that a good time was had by all and that they should do it again next year.

The following year, Luigi didn’t quite reach his some-a-ton-a frogs, but the festival was held anyway.  Someone brought a mess of catfish, someone else had butchered a hog, more musical instruments were played, and so it went.  Over the years, there were fewer and fewer frogs, but the some-a-ton-a  frogs festival became an annual event and people gradually forgot the origins and began speaking of the Sumiton Frog Festival, which survives to this day.