Pie Contests, Chili Pots and a Bank Lawn: Taste of Wilson County at 17
Somewhere in Wilson County, a person is already deciding which pie they plan to defend. On Thursday, Oct. 22, the 17th annual Taste of Wilson County fills the West Lawn of the Wilson Bank & Trust main office in Lebanon from 5:30 to 8 p.m., and for a few hours the county's kitchens, grills and chili pots will be set out side by side on the grass.
The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce, through its Education Division, puts the evening on. The event is outdoors, with a rain date of Tuesday, Oct. 27, and the chamber says it draws about 1,200 people in an average year.
What the evening is built around
Taste of Wilson County is part food festival, part friendly rivalry. The 2026 sponsor list reads like a program: a pie-eating contest, a grill-off, a chili and soup competition and a culinary challenge, with a separate sponsor for the entertainment. The most recent schedule posted online, from the previous edition, wrapped those contests around a live band and a mascot dance-off, with winners announced through the evening. The 2026 schedule was still marked as coming soon, so times may shift.
Restaurants, businesses and marketplace vendors can all take part as participants, and the chamber's site keeps the current list. Because it is a taste event rather than a sit-down dinner, the practical strategy is the one every county-fair regular already knows: arrive hungry, walk the whole lawn once before committing to a plate, and save room for the pie table.
Where the money goes
Proceeds support the Wilson County Business and Education Coalition and the chamber's education programs. Those include teacher grants, Wilson Books from Birth, Tennessee Scholars and student scholarships, along with the annual Extra Mile Educator program that pays for classroom resources, projects and professional development for local teachers. In other words, the pie contest has a day job.
Getting there and getting tickets
Lebanon sits a short drive east of Mt. Juliet, which makes the lawn an easy weeknight trip for anyone in the western end of the county. Tickets are handled through the event's own website, tasteofwilsoncounty.com, and a chamber contact line at 615-444-5503 can answer questions. Ticket prices were not listed in the material we reviewed, so check the site before you head out.
If the evening whets your appetite for more, our guides to where to eat in Mt. Juliet and the best restaurants in Mt. Juliet will keep the tasting going the other six days of the week. Our earlier report on Lebanon's Oktoberfest on West Main Street covers the same stretch of town.
Image: illustrative, AI-generated – not the actual location.
