Mule Day is a week-long celebration held each year in  Columbia, Tenn. This year’s event will be Monday March 30 until Sunday April 5. According to the Mule Days muleday.com official Web site, this event started in 1840 as “Breeder’s Day,” a meeting for mule breeders. Organizers say it now attracts more than 200,000 people and takes place over four days. In addition to mules, traditional Appalachian food, music, dancing, and crafts are featured.

“Mule Day” has been a popular Columbia tradition for nearly 170 years. The heavy involvement of Maury County, Tennessee, in the mule industry has caused the event to grow over time into “one of the largest livestock markets in the world