Cancer survivors drive through the 2021 ‘Lights on First’ parade.

To put on a proper festival, there’s a few key ingredients that pretty much have to be on the list. You’ve gotta have food, you’ve gotta have games, you’re definitely going to need music. Closing a street or two so people can mingle freely probably wouldn’t hurt. either.

This year’s Relay for Life is checking off all those boxes and more, all in an effort to return the annual fundraiser to what organizer Gary Cornelius recently described — during a request to the Cullman City Council to close Arnold Street for this year’s Relay — as “back to a community-focused event with a festival atmosphere.”

He’s talking, of course, about the Relay events of the late 1990s and early 2000s, huge all-night affairs that seemed to draw everyone in town to Heritage Park. Kids saw it as a decently-supervised opportunity to stay out all night; adults perhaps saw a little of that, too; and everyone involved — from the survivors it celebrated to the teams who did laps to sponsor them — saw it as a fun way to draw money and attention toward curing a disease that, at one time or another, affects nearly everybody.

Thanks to changes both within and without, Relay in Cullman has gone through a couple of format shifts since those weekend-walking bonanzas two decades ago. The limited ability to bring people together through the COVID-19 pandemic made the past two Relay events especially muted spectacles — though the idea last year to target historic First Avenue as a luminaria-lined promenade for a “Lights on First” drive-thru festival pointed the way toward a major expansion on that idea for this year’s festival.

With self-imposed restrictions lifted on public get-togethers and the blessing of the city (the city council granted Cornelius’ street-closing request), this year’s Relay will look familiar to anyone who’s dropped in on other Cullman crowd pleasers like 2nd Fridays or the Strawberry Festival.

In a thematic shift aimed at broadening its community appeal, organizers this year will set up shop in Depot Park and the surrounding closed-off streets for a stroll-friendly “Party in the Park” fundraiser that, as always, highlights stories of overcoming cancer and remembering those whose lives the disease has claimed.

Set for April 30, this year’s Relay expands dramatically on that “Lights on First” idea from last year, featuring food trucks, a kids’ corner, a cornhole tournament, and a rotating slate of musical entertainment. The keynote speaker at Party in the Park will be TV newscaster Rick Karle, himself a cancer survivor and an advocate for raising money and awareness to find a cure.

Tapping into the park’s flag-festooned atmosphere, the theme for this year’s Relay is “United We Stand,” linking the unity among survivors and supporters with the common ground people share as Americans. Arnold Street, which separates the Warehouse District from the park, will be closed to traffic into the evening hours, where food trucks from Cha Cha’s Shaved Ice, Mom & M’s, Lena’s Rolling Kitchen, and Homecoming Sideshow will be serving up treats as guests past between the main park venue and the luminaria-lined street along First Avenue.

April 30 falls on a Saturday, and Relay for Life’s Party in the Park is set to kick off at 3 p.m. and run through 10 p.m. Key pieces of each year’s Relay event will fall at their usual times: The survivors’ lap will start at 6 p.m., with the luminaria ceremony unfolding after dark at 9 p.m. Any local cancer survivor who wishes to share how long they’ve been cancer-free is welcome to take part in the stage kickoff to the survivors’ lap.

All activities and dedicated parking for Relay cancer survivors will be based at the nearby site of the former Desperation Church on Second Avenue across from Depot Park. Cullman County Relay organizers are already planning a month of awareness-raising events in the leadup to April 30, including ‘Wheels at Wallace,’ an April 16 car show at the Wallace State campus; and the annual Survivors’ Breakfast, which is set for 7 a.m. on Wednesday, April 27 at Cullman Church of Christ.

Getting an early start is key to staging this year’s sized-up Relay event, and sponsorships, as well as anyone who’s lost a loved one (or is a cancer survivor themselves) still has time to get involved. Whether you’d like to organize a Relay team, purchase a luminaria (which comes with an opportunity to have your photo included in the “You’re the Reason slide show that’ll run throughout the event), or simply make a donation through the local Relay chapter, the place to start is the website for Relay for Life of Cullman County.

Visit www.relayforlife.org/cullmanal to learn more about Relay for Life’s April 30 Party in the Park, as well as to sign up as a sponsor.