Main Street Gray’s Annual Spring Festival is Saturday with music, entertainment, food and vendors scheduled throughout the day.
The April 25 events begin at 9 a.m. with a 5K race and concludes with a concert that lasts from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The Col. Allen Carr 5K Race is set to kick off the festival at 9 a.m. Race Day registration will take place from 7:30 to 8:45 a.m. at the W.E. Knox Civic Center located on West Clinton Street.
The 5K has been the kickoff event for Jones County’s Veterans Appreciation Day until a scheduling issue cancelled it last November. Jones County High School JROTC Capt. Michael McMillan said adding the race to the Spring Festival is a good fit for the race and community and led the effort to make it happen.
Main Street Gray Director Ashley Roberson said vendors will open at 10 a.m., and awards for the racers would take place at 10:30 a.m.
Roberson said entertainment on the festival stage, located in front of Allure Aesthetics on West Clinton Street, begins at 11 a.m. with Kayla and Matt Pippin. A demonstration by Ignite Marshal Arts will take over the stage at 12:30 p.m. and will be followed by the first Main Street Dog Pageant.
The director said the dog pageant will have categories, including So Ugly They’re Cute, Best Bad Hair Day, Who Let the Dogs Out and the Biggest Diva. Entries for the dog pageant may be done online at mainstreetgray.us.
Roberson said there are 50 vendors signed up. Food trucks will be located on Atlanta Road, and the crafts and retail vendors will be along West Clinton. A kids area will be provided by Green Pastures in the Butler Hall parking lot, and the Jones County Cruiser’s Car Show will be located at the corner of West Clinton and Madison Street. The director said a cornhole tournament will take place at 3 p.m. at the Terrace on Madison.
Downtown restaurants will also be welcoming customers during the festival.
The entertainment continues on stage at 3:30 p.m., provided by Music Medix, followed by Gray City Limits at 5, Heath and Howdy at 6 and Ashton Jones at 7 p.m.
The headliner, Journey2Mars, is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.
Roberson said Allure Aesthetics & Wellness is the presenting sponsor for the festival, and the stage is sponsored by Exchange Bank. Other event sponsors include Cadence Bank, 1st Choice Heating and Air, The Skinner Real Estate Team, Gray Station Firearms and Pawn, A Cut Above of GA, Ayers Real Estate, AC Smith Law, Bloom Nutrition, Bass Trading Company, Chairs on Main, Giganti on Main and The Jones County News.
