City of Groves Celebrates its Roots with 56th Annual Pecan Festival

The City of Groves, founded amidst one of the largest pecan groves in the state with some 6,000 trees over 385 acres nestled next to Port Arthur, will celebrate its roots with the 56^th Annual Pecan Festival running from Oct. 9 to Oct. 12, 2025.

Considered one of the Golden Triangle’s featured family fall events, the four-day festival lineup includes live music, food vendors, carnival rides, and a would-be world-record attraction: what organizers hope is the world’s largest pecan statue.

“Pecan Festival is our annual celebration that we have every October, the second weekend of October." Letha Knaus, executive director of the Groves Chamber of Commerce, told 12 News. "It kind of celebrates the origin of our town being that we were built and became a city upon a pecan grove. I believe that was in 1910 if I’m not mistaken."

This Year’s Festival Features “Cajun Sunday” Lineup

The Pecan Festival was started in 1969 as a community-wide celebration coinciding with the harvest of pecans and has expanded from its one-day origin to include such things as:

•  A pet show Saturday at Lee Rodger’s Pavilion located in Lion’s Park. Registration begins at noon.
•  Cooking with Pecans contest with entries, all of them must contain pecans, coming from all over the state of Texas. Judging to take place at Groves Chamber of Commerce office and winners announced Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Lion’s Park Pavilion.
•  Groves Pecan Festival treasure hunt where hunters search for daily golden pecans for prizes.
•  A car show.
•  A gumbo cook-off on Saturday with teams starting to cook at 7 a.m., judging at 11:30 a.m. and gumbo sales at noon followed by 2 p.m. winners announced.
•  Horseshoe tournament Sunday at noon.
•  Pecan toss.

“We’ve got live music every night," Knaus said. "We’ve got a lot of events packed in during this week."

This year’s festival, according to 12 News, includes a beefed-up Sunday lineup, now branded as “Cajun Sunday” with Louisiana musician Geno Delafose the headliner.

Thursday is faith, praise and worship night with the Moondog Howlers playing on Friday and Sugar Town taking the stage on Saturday.

Carnival rides run from 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday; 5 to 11 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Groves was Founded by Port Arthur Pioneer Asa Groves

Despite the planting of many pecan trees in the area — estimates range from 2,500 to 6,000 trees were planted between 1910 and 1920 — the city is not named for the pecan groves but for Port Arthur pioneer Asa E. Groves.

“Asa E. Groves, a pioneer Port Arthurian and the editor of the paper that is now the Port Arthur News, gave his name to the subdivision that would later be Groves, Texas,” explains the official webpage about the city’s history. “Many assume that the city’s name is derived from the fact that Asa Groves also arranged for Griffing Nursery to plant hundreds of pecan trees amid the acres he and his partners developed.”

Prior to the planting of the pecan trees, rice farming was the main occupation in the area.

Groves developed slowly, with its first store opening in 1920, a post office in 1927, its first school in 1929, and a public library in 1930. A constant was the growing pecan trees.

“The pecan trees became a focal point for community growth, and the harvest of the pecans came as a second income to homeowners under the trees. The pecans from Groves were sought from as far away as Louisiana and from all over the state of Texas,” says the Groves Chamber of Commerce. “Homeowners were heard to reveal; they paid their taxes and insurance each year with the sale of pecans … and calls were taken at the Chamber office from all over the state inquiring as to the sale of pecans.”

There were still more trees than people after World War II with the population of Groves estimated at just 1,300 residents in 1950. Change came rapidly after the city incorporated in 1952 (by a vote of 1,079 to 262) and the population skyrocketed to more than 17,000 by 1960.

The population reached 18,000+ in the 1970s but today it is just over 17,000. Growth is fixed for Groves as the city of just over five square miles is bordered by Port Arthur on three sides and Port Neches on the other side.

Weekend Getaway to Groves

A weekend getaway to Groves can be a relaxing and memorable experience, especially when including nearby Port Arthur and the surrounding region. Groves itself is small, but the area offers a blend of local charm, outdoor adventure, and unique attractions ideal for a two-day trip.

Your itinerary could include:

•  A visit to Snooper’s Paradise Antiques which has been offering furniture, paintings and art objects since 1952. This place is massive with 50 showrooms filling 36,000+ square feet. 
•  Locals like to head to Chris Roark Lions Park with its playgrounds, picnic spots, horseshoe pits, baseball fields, a stage for music and a swimming pool for the summer months.
•  Eat like a local at Larry & Rita’s Mexican Cajun Bar & Grill, Maria’s Diner, Silvia’s Tacos, P&J Seafood, Sam’s China Inn or Tony’s Barbecue.
•  Take advantage of nearby Port Arthur with such attractions as the Museum of the Gulf Coast, Sabine Lake, Sea Rim State Park, Buu Mon Buddhist Temple’s gardens, Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, and the Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site.
•  Other nearby outdoor activities include the iconic Rainbow Bridge, the Texas Bayou Wildlife Refuge and Lincoln Park.
•  As a bonus, Beaumont is just 20 minutes away with the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum, McFaddin-Ward House, and the Texas Energy Museum all worth a weekend visit.

Groves and the surrounding area are worth a visit year-round, but the Pecan Festival is a must-see event, including the oversized pecan statue built by local fiberglass artist Paul Oliver. Festival organizers say the statue is being submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest pecan statue, and they hope it will become a tourist attraction for years to come.