The bizarre Wu Palace in America

The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States. Built of reinforced concrete and brick, the palace is covered each spring with tons of corn, grains, and grass, creating massive murals. Every spring, locals and tourists alike flock to admire and explore the beauty of the Corn Palace.

Each year, the Corn Palace is decorated with a different theme. Besides the spring festival, the palace also hosts events throughout the year such as the "corn smashing" in July, the corn festival in August, and the Polka festival in September, attracting the attention of many visitors.

The Corn Palace was built in 1892 as part of a six-day festival celebrating a successful harvest. The idea of ​​decorating the palace with corn was to showcase South Dakota's rich land and encourage people to settle there.

Following the success of the annual festivals at the Corn Palace, in 1905 the townspeople invested in and built a larger Corn Palace. But soon, this building became too small for Mitchell's growing population. A larger palace was then erected and opened just in time for the festival in 1921.

Each year, local artists redecorate the Palace with naturally colored and eye-catching corn cobs, using local grains and grasses such as flaxseed, rye, wheat, oats, millet, and straw to enrich their work.

Besides the annual corn festival, the Palace is used for various events including exhibitions, dances, theatrical performances, meetings, parties, balls, graduation arenas for Mitchell High School and Dakota Wesleyan University, as well as county, regional, and state basketball tournaments.

Huong Thao