VALDOSTA —
There was no shortage of fun in downtown Valdosta on Saturday as citizens enjoyed Farm Days around the historic Lowndes County Courthouse and the first annual Cinco de Mayo Festival in the parking lot of the new Lowndes County Judicial Complex.
Farm Days — which runs every first and third Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., April through October — was a huge success.
“It’s good so far,” said Downtown Coordinator Amanda Peacock. “We’ve got a lot more produce that’s starting to come in.”
The early bird really does catch the worm as most of the produce sold very early on. Valdosta Mayor John Gayle, who the Times caught up with at the Cinco de Mayo Festival, said he and his wife got to Farm Days around 11 a.m.
“It was all sold out—the produce was gone,” said Gayle.
Mary Jane Washnock got there early and was fortunate to snag some great produce such as red potatoes from Okra Paradise Farms.
“This is a wonderful event. I’m going to come every Saturday they have it,” said Washnock.
David and Marilyn Dechler also picked up some potatoes and had their eyes on a stand that was selling beautifully bloomed orchids.
“It’s great and we may be back to get an orchid,” said David.
Just up and across the street the Cinco de Mayo Festival was kicking off. This is the first time an event like this celebrating Latino heritage has come to Valdosta and it was all possible because of organizer Hector Quezada.
“Valdosta is a growing town,” said Quezada. “The Latino community has grown with it.”
According to Quezada, an event like this is important for everyone in the community because he feels it aids in making Valdosta more unified.
“The community can get to know more about our food, our music and our culture,” said Quezada.
The festival had music, lemonade, nachos, a car show, dancing, various vendors and more. The big draw was a free trip to the Dominican Republic that was raffled off.
Gayle was present to pull the lucky winning ticket out of the box. The winner of the grand trip was Jose Rodriguez who was actually a part of the event. Rodriguez was with Nation of Stangs from Lake City and Live Oak, Fla., who had their mustangs displayed in the car show.
“We just came to have a good time,” said Rodriguez.
While no one probably had a better time than Rodriguez, a few attendees and vendors also lived it up as they danced in the streets to the Cupid Shuffle and the Cha Cha Slide.
While the heat was intense, that didn’t stop citizens from having a good time and supporting local downtown businesses and events.
For more on this story and other local news, subscribe to The Valdosta Daily Times e-Edition, or our print edition.
