MORVEN — Morven residents filled the park Saturday for the 19th annual Peach Festival, sponsored by the city of Morven and the peach festival committee.

Community members from Morven and surrounding areas browsed through arts and crafts, ate peach ice cream and enjoyed good Southern food provided by more than 100 vendors.

Ronnie and Gwen Combass of Combass Bird Houses have been vendors at the festival for years but said this year’s event was bigger than in the past. The Combass’ travel from Madison, Fla. each year to be a part of the excitement.

“Its a good show. We enjoy coming to Morven and we enjoy eating the peach ice cream,” Gwen Combass said.

At 2 p.m., citizens lined the streets to watch the annual festival parade. The parade featured the Peach Queen and lights and sirens signaled the entrance of the Morven Fire Department, Police Department, emergency rescue workers and the Brooks County Sheriff’s Department who threw out treats for the children. A semi-truck from Valdosta Technical College’s commercial truck driving program closed out the parade.

Cheryl Gibbs and Rusty Cross, both of Morven, have attended the festival for years.

“We’ve lived here our whole lives and we pulled the Peach Queens in the parade,” Gibbs said. “This is excellent compared to last year.”

Gibbs said there were more people, more vendors and the parade was both longer and nicer this year.

Members of the peach committee began preparing for the 2006 festival in October.

“We always hope it’s bigger and better than the previous year,” Sandy Rentz, committee chairperson, said.

Entertainment throughout the day was provided by local singers, cloggers and line dancers. A peach bake-off kicked off the day’s events at 10 a.m. with $25 cash prizes going to the top overall participant and the top contender in each of the three categories. Categories included dessert dishes, main dishes and miscellaneous dishes, but every entry had one ingredient in common: peaches.

The evening ended with a bang as entertainer Percy Sledge appeared in concert at the Morven School Auditorium.