Downtown Turlock was alive this weekend with community members and visitors celebrating the town’s agricultural past at the 3rd annual Turlock Melon Carnival.

“The original Melon Carnival became a way for our community to celebrate agriculture, commerce and the people who were building our town as we know it now. And today, more than 115 years later, we’re standing here celebrating that history again,” said event organizer Jenni Brannon.

Kelly Hunter from the Turlock Historical Society Museum treated carnival guests to a unique look at the city’s history when she performed a song that was written decades ago titled, “Way Down in Turlock Where the Watermelons Grow.”

The modern Melon Carnival featured events from the past, including the Kiddie Kaper Parade down Main Street, watermelon and cantaloupe eating contests and the Miss Melon Pageant.

Narinder Mann, who was crowned Miss Teen Melon on Saturday night, helped lead the Kiddie Kaper Parade with her fellow Melon queens and assisted with the watermelon eating contest.

“I thought it was such a wonderful experience to represent Turlock and its community, and I love to be involved,” she said.