Gardendale prepares for Magnolia Festival
Published 11:03 am Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Preparation for the Gardendale Magnolia Festival is in high gear.
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The 11th annual event is shaping up to be the biggest yet, thanks in part to a schedule change to dodge spring football scrimmages at Alabama and Auburn. The lack of strong competition is expected to draw larger crowds than in previous years.
Event coordinator Kathleen Phillips said the festival kicks off on Friday, May 4 from 5-9 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. with free admission and free parking. Weather permitting, a fireworks show scheduled for 9 p.m. will end Friday night’s festivities. Last year’s fireworks extravaganza was rained out.
“Last year we had about 20,000 visitors over the weekend, but we expect it to increase greatly because we have moved our dates from the A-Day games,” said Phillips. “We believe the crowd will be much bigger.”
Based on experience over the last decade, this year’s production has some added attractions that should appeal to all age groups.
The popular band Telluride will headline the entertainment, which kicks off the group’s 30-year anniversary tour. Other entertainment includes Brentwood Revival, Echoing Angels, For King and Country, Judge Talford Band, Good Morning Lucy, Josh Brown, Beverly’s Dance Studio, North Jefferson Academy of Dance, Town & Country Cloggers, and high school choirs from Gardendale, Mortimer Jordan and Corner.
There will be three stages for continuous live entertainment, more than 150 vendor booths, a car show, silent auction, pooch parade, art classes for kids, pony rides, bungy jumping, a cookie eating contest, beauty pageants and more. For runners there will be a 5K and a one-mile fun run.
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Phillips added that festival vendors will compete in the Alabama Tourism’s Year of Food, with winners determined by visitors’ votes. Each food vendor will submit one item for the competition, and a panel of local celebrity judges will determine the winner of Best Food Item. The winner will get a plaque to boast the title of GMF’s best food until next year.
One new addition that may draw attention is the larger carnival rides that in previous years, as well as an animal comedy circus. There will be free LEGO building stations inside and outside. The cookie eating contest will add some fun as local politicians and city leaders will compete. “It will be interesting to see how many cookies they can eat in one minute,” said Phillips.
Many local civic organizations, clubs, churches and volunteers make the festival what it is as the event continues to grow. The primary fund-raiser for the City of Gardendale, some of the proceeds are used to provide college scholarship money for area high school seniors. City leaders also decided to add two charities; Cornerstone Ranch and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama.
The Alabama Tourism named the festival one of the Top 10 events in May 2012.
For more detailed information, visits magnoliafestival.orgxx