The 79th year of the Strawberry Festival may break a record for attendance Saturday with a little luck from the weather and the addition of more arts and entertainment.

Festival planners have already announced the headline musical act, Eve 6, which carries a large following from a string of hits, including one chart topper.

But Cullman Parks and Recreation Director Nathan Anderson is mindful that the festival maintains homage to the strawberry and farmers, who have made Cullman County the top agricultural producer in Alabama.

“This is the 79th year of the Strawberry Festival in Cullman; it’s the oldest in the state to our knowledge,” Anderson said. “We always want to remind people of the rich farm history of our area and how it remains a leader in the state. We’ve expanded the variety of the festival in recent years to draw a new, larger audience to come and enjoy Cullman.”

In keeping up with the growing attendance of the Strawberry Festival, event organizers have ensured that more strawberry and food vendors will be on hand for a crow that could top 15,000.

“We’re also excited to be corresponding with local restaurants that will be offering strawberry specialties throughout the day, and we encourage people to stop in and try those,” Anderson said.

Part of expanding the festival is the focus on children’s activities and art, as well as the music.

“We will have festivities from Depot Park to the Festhalle and into the Warehouse District with kids’ activities,” Anderson said. “We’ve also included the Art In the Park activities that were postponed by rain, and that will be in the parking lot of the old Rumors Deli. We’ve always seen good crowds for the festival, but the expansion of activities and art has brought even more interest and it’s a great way to showcase some aspects of our community.”

While the Strawberry Festival begins at 8 a.m., not far away at Cullman High School a state track meet will be under way, providing even more opportunities for visitors to explore the activities and the community.

“We know, too, that we’re drawing a lot of positive attention on social media from the Shoals area, Huntsville and Birmingham with the addition of Eve 6 to the festival, so we feel good about the crowd we can have,” Anderson said.

With such a large crowd anticipated, Anderson encourages those looking for fresh strawberries to come early to secure the fruit.

“We keep expanding the amount of strawberries to provide, but the demand keeps going up. But we’ll also have food vendors on hand. And (District Judge) Rusty Turner will again be making his ‘Roosters,’ which is a grilled pimento cheese with bacon and other goodies. He volunteers time to do it, and everybody always enjoys it,” Anderson said.

After all the preparation for the festival, Anderson said the planners of the event — parks and recreation staff, board members and other volunteers — have put in a lot of time to make this year’s offering entertaining.

“We could do this without the staff and board and volunteers. They put in so much time to make this even a success and to ensure that everyone has a great time,” Anderson said.

When: 8 a.m.–9 p.m. Saturday

Where: Festhalle Market Platz, Depot Park, Warehouse District

What: Food, including strawberries, art, entertainment, children’s activities

Musical Performance: Eve 6 at 7 p.m. on the Arnold Street stage