VALDOSTA — South Georgia is looking to add another festival to its yearly traditions – the Valdosta Bluesberry Festival.

On April 14 and 15, residents and visitors are invited to attend the blueberries, brews and blues festival at Unity Park Amphitheater, complete with a lineup of live entertainment, family-friendly activities, blueberry-themed food and drinks and the Blueberry Olympics.

David DiSalvo, executive director of Visit Valdosta, said the festival is a way to showcase and celebrate Georgia-grown produce as well as local music and brews.

“Blueberries are a big crop, from an agricultural standpoint, in the state of Georgia. We really kind of started this thing called blueberries, brews and blues. So the blueberries obviously talk about the agricultural impact that we have in the state. and here locally, the brew is because we have Georgia Beer (which) has an award-winning blueberry beer, which is brewed with all local Georgia-grown blueberries. and then blues was just a natural tie in to do blues music and incorporate something and create an event at the amphitheater. So from blueberries, brews and blues, we came up with the Bluesberry Festival,” he said.

Brandie Dame, Main Street director, said she believes the talent lineup and activities will attract festival-goers from all over.

“This is not only something local; we’re wanting people from Florida, we’re wanting people from Middle Georgia, North Georgia, Alabama to come because these aren’t just local bands. This is the Blues Brothers, the actual band that was in the movies that backed up John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. This is not a small act. This is a very well-known act to come in and this is just hopefully the start of what’s to come in Downtown Valdosta,” she said.

“You know, we really appreciate everyone coming together to help put on this event. It’s just hopefully going to just be a huge economic impact for Downtown Valdosta. We want the restaurants to be full when they spend the night on Saturday and have to leave on Sunday or come in on Friday night. The merchants downtown. We want them to have a unique shopping experience, to remember that downtown also has it going on.”

The two-day festival features several musical performances and activities:

– Blues musical acts include Dirty Bird and the Flu, Tom “Bones” Malone and Lou Marini, The Page Brothers, etc.

– The Blueberry Olympics, where participants will compete in a series of events including a blueberry pie eating contest, blueberry throwing game, etc., for a first-place prize of 150 Downtown Dollars, second-place prize of 100 Downtown Dollars and third-place prize of 60 Downtown Dollars. Downtown Dollars are accepted at most Downtown Valdosta merchants.

– The Blueberry Bake Off, which showcases the best blueberry pies, cakes, muffins and other baked goods.

– Farmers market featuring local vendors with special blueberry-themed merchandise.

– Kids’ Zone with bounce houses, basketball, rock climbing wall, etc.

– Food trucks offering barbecue, funnel cakes, seafood, etc.

– Downtown is also hosting a poster contest for the event promo materials and T-shirt line, which comes with a $500 cash prize. Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts will determine the winner, and the deadline to enter is March 17.

Vendors also still have an opportunity to get a booth at the festival, with a deadline of the end of the first week of April.

Vendors can contact the Main Street office at (229) 259-3577 or visit https://valdostabluesberry.com/ for more information.