HAHIRA – The City of Hahira called 2020 “yhe year that cancelled everything” because the pandemic canceled the Honeybee Festival. 

That almost happened again.

Lana Hall, festival chairman, said the city didn’t decide to have the 2021 festival until July. Gaining the health department’s approval took longer than expected, leading to late advertising for the festival.

It was tough and the 2021 festival parade Saturday was a little shorter because of it; however, a festival committee of 20 people persevered, making the Hahira Honeybee Festival “bigger and better” for its 40th year.

Every year, festival coordinators choose a new theme and an organization to honor in kind. The 2021 theme was preserving our youth/future, honoring the Georgia Sheriffs’ Boys Ranch.

The city named Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk and his wife, Ginger, as “grand marshals” of the festival.

Hall said the Boys Ranch was chosen because “it belongs right here in Hahira (and) they’re a part of us.”

The 2021 festival was about showing a celebration of life if anything, a stark contrast to the city’s atmosphere in 2020.

Hall said everyone seemed to have a wonderful time.

Families, couples and friends ate funnel cake or snow cones and perused the wares of nearby vendors.

Vendors such as Jim Tuttle of Tuttle’s Toys demonstrated one of his marshmallow shooters to families.

Shekiah and John Moore, co-owners of Kiah’s Desserts and More, greeted passersby with warm smiles and the temptation of pastries.

“Everything was baked with love,” Shekiah Moore told customers as they visited her booth. She said she was happy to get back to working the festival after its cancellation in 2020.

“It feels amazing (coming out here again),” she said. “We’ve seen a lot of familiar faces. Everybody was happy to get out, mingle and have a sense of getting back to normal.”

The sense of normalcy portrayed came with the pre-planning of the festival, Hall said. Organizers had vendors come prepared by wearing gloves, masks and shields in some cases.

Festival-goers weren’t required to wear masks, rather the festival committee left personal protection to individual choices.

The sentiment was “so far so good,” according to Hall’s observation.

She was grateful for everyone attending the event, law enforcement help with traffic and parade direction, and everyone who put the festival together.

“We’re just one big happy family,” she said.