Kids compete Saturday with Western Kentucky University Lady Toppers Micah Jones (from left) and Ileana Johnson in a brownie-eating contest at the 18th annual Duncan Hines Festival at Chaney's Dairy Barn. (Bac To Trong/Daily News)

The 20th annual Duncan Hines Festival will be Saturday at Chaney’s Dairy Barn at 9191 Nashville Road.

The free festival will be from 4 to 8 p.m. A brownie-eating contest will be at 4:30 p.m. and is free to enter. Entries for the baking contest must be in by 6 p.m. Cost is $10 to enter.

“They have to use one Duncan Hines product,” said Candace Wright Poole, president of the Bowling Green Junior Woman’s Club and chairwoman of the Duncan Hines Festival. “We have at least 30 people enter that every year.”

There will also be rides, Lil’ Toot, a South Central Kentucky Kids on the Block performance and Uncle Duncan’s Duck Derby. Prizes are $1,000, $500 and $250. Tickets for the duck derby are one for $5 or five for $20 and may be bought from any Bowling Green Junior Woman’s Club member or on the day of the festival. There will be a silent auction with items such as Disney World tickets, King’s Island tickets, a St. Louis package, an eat local package with gift cards to local restaurants and two workout packages. The festival will end with Chaney’s Dairy Barn’s Ice Cream and a Moovie, which will be “The Peanuts Movie.”

Proceeds will benefit New Beginnings Therapeutic Riding as well as other local charities, Poole said.

“A big chunk will go to New Beginnings. We get requests monthly from local charities,” she said. “As a club, we support their fundraising efforts. The mission of the club is to promote volunteerism in young women and also support local charities.”

The money raised by the festival for New Beginnings will go toward scholarships, New Beginnings Executive Director Michele Vise said. The usual cost to participate is $30 per class per student. All students have to be medically approved by a physician before they can ride. New Beginnings is a member of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship and is one of four premiere accredited centers in Kentucky. It is the only one west of Lexington, Vise said.

“We provide horseback riding lessons to individuals and groups with behavioral, emotional, mental and physical disabilities such as autism, spina bifida, cerebral palsy and ADHD,” she said. “The riders will ride once a week, but we have classes every day of the week except Fridays and Sundays.”

The classes are for ages 5 to adults, Vise said.

“The oldest adult in 19 years has been 80 years of age,” she said. “Half are under 18 and half are over 18. We’ve served over 900 since we’ve been in existence. At this time we do have openings for riders and groups.”

New Beginnings will start a free veterans program this month called the Stars and Stripes Veterans Program, Vice said. The program lasts for 10 weeks and she is seeking donations to help support it. The program will help veterans work on things such as confidence building, teamwork, personal strength and anger management.

“These veterans get to come out and work with the horses and bond with them. They learn about ground work. They will learn about how to communicate with the horse,” she said. “It’s a way for New Beginning to give back to those who protect our freedom.”

The Duncan Hines Festival usually draws more than 1,000 people, Poole said.

“Bowling Green loves the Duncan Hines family. It’s a well-known brand. He’s a well-known man,” she said. “Pinnacle Foods owns the Duncan Hines name now and they support the festival every year. It’s been voted in the top 20 events in Kentucky selected by the Southeast Tourism Society.”

Chaney’s has been a great partner for the festival, Poole said.

“This is our third year there,” she said. “They don’t charge us anything to have it there. Everybody loves Chaney’s.”

— For more information, visit bgjwc.com or the Duncan Hines Festival page on Facebook

— Follow features reporter Alyssa Harvey on Twitter @bgdnfeatures or visit bgdailynews.com.