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The Valdosta-Lowndes County Azalea Festival returns this coming Saturday and Sunday, March 9, 10, in Drexel Park. Featuring local entertainment, vendors and numerous activities for participants of all ages, the Azalea Festival has become an expected March treat for the area for more than a decade.
Hard to believe, but it’s true. This will be the 13th Annual Azalea Festival.
In 2000, organizers had an idea of celebrating the community through the blooms of our azaleas. Why not create a festival that celebrates Valdosta-Lowndes County’s community spirit while honoring the region’s abundance of azalea blooms each March? After all, the flower had earned Valdosta the nickname of the Azalea City many years earlier.
In March 2001, the first Azalea Festival was a one-day affair in Drexel Park. It has grown and adapted each year since.
Through the years, hundreds of people have made the Azalea Festival possible and shaped what it has become. The participation of thousands of area residents and visitors have made it an annual success.
The festival is named for the region’s azaleas, a plant that blooms for a brief and beautiful period around this time of year.
With a confusing winter of warmth and late cold, the blooms may not be as abundant this year, but the festival should still shine.
For more than the blooms, the Azalea Festival celebrates the people and things that make Valdosta-Lowndes County a beautiful place to live throughout the year.
What We Think
Azalea Festival returns
- What We Think
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Thoughts on graduation
Graduation ceremonies reflect how life marches on. For the students receiving their diplomas and degrees, graduation is a culmination of the majority of their lives’ work.
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Thumbs up, thumbs down
THUMBS UP: To Dr. John Gaston, retiring dean of Valdosta State University’s College of the Arts. For the past 10-plus years, Gaston has worked to build a more interconnected program with various artistic and communications departments working together. Given that you are likely to see one College of the Arts department collaborating with another during events is proof of Gaston’s success.
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On the go this weekend
Take a breath.
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Sharing the roads with motorcycles
With the recent pleasant temperatures and sunny skies, the number of motorcycles on area roads has increased.
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Thank your local law enforcement today
Today, May 15, was designated Peace Officers Memorial Day back in 1962 when President John F. Kennedy was in office.
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Visit musical roots this weekend
Beginning Saturday, May 18, Nashville, Ga., will be hosting a special Smithsonian exhibit, “New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music.” The exhibit will continue through the end of June and Nashville has done a tremendous job in promoting and planning for the exhibit.
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Happy Mother’s Day!
A few years ago, a television commercial asked, Who first believed in you? Many folks may have instinctively answered by simply saying, Mom.
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Thumbs up
THUMBS UP: To mail workers, volunteers and food bank staff for gathering food for the annual Stamp Out Hunger postal food drive today. A plastic bag designated for canned goods and other non-perishable food items should have arrived in your mailbox earlier this week. If you haven’t already, take a few moments to fill the bag with food and hang from your mailbox. If you didn’t receive the special Stamp Out Hunger bag, any plastic bag filled with food will do. This food drive helps feed thousands of South Georgians annually. Valdosta-Lowndes County often donates more food than nearly all other cities and counties in Georgia.
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Celebrating nurses
She is considered the founder of modern nursing so it seems only natural that National Nurses Week would include Florence Nightingale’s birthday.
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Helping the hungry: Mail it in!
Valdosta-Lowndes County continues revealing its generous spirit.
- More What We Think Headlines
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Thoughts on graduation
