The Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) was first recorded at Mobile, Alabama, between 1933-1945. This uninvited South American species arrived incognito on shipping crates and in less than a decade had become well established throughout the Southeast. They’re now as far away as California and Puerto Rico and are said to infest over 367 million acres. The FDA estimates that they have an annual economic impact of about $5.75 billion, their negative effects running the gamut from medical and veterinary expenses to crop and livestock loss.

If you live in South Georgia, you probably just know these notorious pests as fire ants and you’re probably well acquainted with their painful stings and the blisters that follow. Taking all this into consideration, the city of Ashburn decided, back in 1996, to celebrate them during their annual Wiregrass Festival, and the idea caught on. The old idiom “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” comes to mind. The Fire Ant Festival has had an outsized positive impact on the local economy in its nearly 30 year run. The festival is always held on the fourth weekend in March and grows more popular each year.

This replaces and updates a post originally published on 21 December 2008.