Pilgrim's Farmers Market

Downtown Pittsburg will be totally transformed for the return of the Texas Hot Link Festival set for April 26, 2025 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. One featured area of the festival will be the Farmers Market thanks to the support and sponsorship of local partner Pilgrim’s.

The Farmers Market will feature all things local. From produce, including home-grown fruits and vegetables, to honey to fresh breads and even plants, this market will showcase and celebrate the rich, agricultural history Northeast Texas is known for—a perfect fit for a Pilgrim’s partnership. 

“Pilgrim’s knows a thing or two about giving it our all,” explained Debbie Hydrick, Building Manager for the Texas Street location in Pittsburg. “Driven by a mission “to be the best” in all that we do, it’s no surprise that giving back to the community and supporting team members comes second nature. Pilgrim’s is committing support once again to the 2023 Hot Link Festival as a top sponsor and is honored to also call the Hot Link Capital of Texas home too.” 

“The Farmers Market at the Texas Hot Link Festival would not be possible without partners like Pilgrim's,” explained Sabin Warrick, festival creator. 

Pilgrim’s Mount Pleasant, which also includes the Pittsburg facility, employs more than 3,200 community members who work hard to sustain the industry responsible for processing, preparing, packaging and delivering fresh, quality poultry products for people around the world. These dedicated men and women have served the community for years, but the company’s impact spans far beyond the city limits of Pittsburg and Mount Pleasant. 

As the second-largest chicken producer in America, Pilgrim’s USA (Pilgrim’s) operates across 14 states and Puerto Rico, providing fresh, further-processed and value-added poultry products for sale to customers in more than 100 countries. The company employs more than 31,000 people and partners with more than 4,300 family farmers across the nation. 

“For a company like Pilgrim’s to start in the small, little East Texas town of Pittsburg, you can’t help but be proud; proud that a company that employees six times the people that live in our county has fought adversity, pandemics and global confusion,” explained Warrick. “You don’t have to look to New York where they trade such large companies. You can look in our own backyard to see, on a daily basis, the impact they make.  They truly represent our neighbors and relatives. (They are) not just funding on our tax rolls.  It would be a far, less (enjoyable) place (to live) without Pilgrim’s impact.” 

Indeed, Pilgrim’s impact is far reaching. As one of the largest employers in the tri-county area, the local company provides competitive, reliable career opportunities for people living within the communities in which it operates, but is also making investments in key areas such as infrastructure and education. 

In 2020, Pilgrim’s launched Hometown Strong, a $20 million initiative to bring strength and stability to the communities where team members live and work. Of that total, Pilgrim’s Mount Pleasant was awarded $1.5 million and has directed most of that funding toward building a new community center in partnership with the City of Mount Pleasant. This facility will open later this year. 

In addition to projects in key community spaces, Pilgrim’s is also providing meaningful investments in the educational ambitions of team members and their families creating the largest free college tuition program in rural America, known as Better Futures. In communities like Pittsburg and Mount Pleasant, Better Futures is encouraging and empowering team members and their children to pursue their higher education goals of attaining associate degrees and trade certificates tuition free at community and technical colleges such as Northeast Texas Community College and Texarkana College. 

The Pilgrim’s Farmers Market at the festival is just one more layer of true commitment to the local community. In the spirit of Farm to Table and Buy Local, this area supports local farmers, ranchers and suppliers of all things food. For more information about how to participate as a vendor at the Farmers Market, check out our vendor section here on our website: www.TexasHotLinkFestival.com/vendors