The story
Potato Bowl USA in Grand Forks
Potato Bowl USA Week is a fall community celebration in Grand Forks, North Dakota, tied to a University of North Dakota football game, running since 1966 in partnership with the Northland Potato Growers Association. Highlights include the World's Largest French Fry Feed, offering free fries and family activities, and the KEM Shrine Potato Bowl Parade through downtown.
The Red River Valley surrounding Grand Forks, North Dakota, is one of the most productive potato-growing regions in the United States, and in the fall of 1966, the Northland Potato Growers Association, representing growers and shippers across the valley, partnered with the University of North Dakota to sponsor the first Potato Bowl Week, a celebration timed to a UND football game that would give the region's signature crop a genuine civic showcase.