Since 2001, the Oakdale Cowboy Museum has teamed up with Oakdale Rotary for the popular annual dinner of “mountain oysters,” a delicacy of fried bull testicles, served at the F.E.S. Hall located at 190 Lee Avenue.
Enthusiasts of the delicacy come from all over the state traveling from Bakersfield and north of Sacramento.
On the Sunday prior to the dinner, volunteers with the Rotary Club gather at Medlin’s House of Beef to filet, assort, and marinate the over 400 pounds of the bull genitals. The meat sits in a special sauce and on Monday morning they begin frying in preparation to serve them to hungry attendees.
While the festival is taking place there will be a raffle, auction, and a “duck walk” where entrants buy a chosen square and a duck “selects” the winner by “marking” the area.
Oakdale Cowboy Museum Director Christie Camarillo said that attendees would receive 30th anniversary wine glasses or beer mugs with the original Testicle Festival logo. Oak Valley Bank and the Turlock Livestock Auction sponsored the items.
“It only seemed natural to ask one of the sales yards to sponsor,” Camarillo said.
Tickets are $50 and can be purchased at the Oakdale Cowboy Museum at (209) 847-7049, the Oakdale Rotary at (209) 525-9198, or by visiting the festival’s website at www.oakdaletesticlefestival.com.
