California State Duck Calling Championship

Duck calling contests are judged on a caller's routine, not on ducks, and the state championships feed a national ladder. California's is listed under "2026 State Contests" on the Wings over the Prairie Festival's qualifying-contest page, alongside the other state and regional contests that feed the World's Championship Duck Calling Contest (stuttgartduckfest.com). The World's Championship itself runs November 27 and 28, 2026, out in Stuttgart, Arkansas (stuttgartduckfest.com).

The organizer's own press release for an earlier edition put the point of the weekend plainly: the contest gives "duck callers the opportunity to compete for an invitation to the World Duck Calling Championship in Stuttgart, Arkansas," and it has "produced multiple world champion duck callers" (California Sportsman, 2019).

Kittle's Outdoor has been running it in Colusa for a long stretch. In 2017 the store described that year's contest as the "seventh consecutive year" it had brought the state championship to town (California Sportsman, 2017), which puts the run back to 2011.

Past editions have split the categories across two days. The 2023 schedule ran the Butte Sink Regional (a World Championship qualifier), the California State Live Duck contest and the State Speck Calling contest on Saturday, then the state duck calling championship, the junior and intermediate contests, and a two-man meat calling contest on Sunday (International Callers Association). That's the shape it has taken before, not a promise about this year's running order. Check with the organizer for the current schedule.

Our booth dates come off our own Find Us calendar, and they're August 29 and 30, 2026. The organizer's contestant signup page lists the same weekend, "August 29-30, 2026" (Kittle's Outdoor).

Venue is the part worth double-checking before you drive. The 2026 qualifying-contest list gives the location as Kittle's Outdoor & Sport, 888 Market Street, Colusa (stuttgartduckfest.com), which matches the address on our calendar. Earlier editions were held a few blocks away at the city park: Colusa Veterans Memorial Park in 2023 (International Callers Association) and Memorial Park in 2019 (California Sportsman). The organizer's signup page gives dates without an address. So confirm the meeting spot with Kittle's, and use our calendar for where the kettle is.

Colusa sits on the Sacramento River off Highway 20, about 40 minutes west of Yuba City.

Look for the tent. We pop our classic kettle corn on site in an open kettle, big mushroom kernels with cane sugar, oil, and salt going in together so the sugar caramelizes onto the corn while it pops. Sweet and salty in the same handful, and it holds up for an hour of walking a vendor row, which is most of what a two-day expo asks of a snack. If you want the long version, we wrote up how real kettle corn is made.

Classic and caramel are always on, with a rotating handful of the other flavors riding along. Late August in Colusa is hot and flat, so the cold half of the booth earns its keep: fresh-squeezed Lemon Shakers, shaken to order.

Our classic kettle corn is naturally gluten-free (corn, cane sugar, oil, salt). Flavored batches each have their own additional ingredients, so ask at the booth about a specific flavor. Our booths are nut-free, though we're a mobile popper working events, not a certified nut-free facility.

The contest has grown an outdoor expo around it over the years. The 2019 organizer materials advertised booth spaces for vendors and said "water & food will be for sale at the event," with a caterer barbecuing lunch for purchase (California Sportsman). Expect a mix of hunting and outdoor gear vendors alongside the food, and expect it to change year to year. The organizer is the only one who can tell you this year's vendor lineup.

We're based over in the Yuba-Sutter area, Yuba City and Marysville, and we've been running kettles at fairs, festivals, markets, and school and sports events across Northern California since 2015. Colusa County is a familiar drive: our other stop out this way is the Arbuckle Watermelon Festival, about half an hour south down I-5.

Every confirmed booth date lives on the Find Us calendar, and it's the only place we say where the booths will be. If you're putting on an event of your own, whether that's a fair, a market, a school night, or a fundraiser, email [email protected] or call Adam at 530-315-8603.