The White Springs Wild Azalea Festival – better than ever!

The Historic Town of White Springs will host its 15th Annual Wild Azalea Festival on March 20th and 21st -- and it is bigger and better than ever. The theme is “Come Eat, Dance, Walk among Artists & Run by the River” and has been expanded to include a Friday evening Street Dance with live music and a 5K Run Saturday morning. The Wild Azalea Festival will start Friday afternoon, March 20th and continue on Saturday, March 21st in the heart of White Springs at the Nature and Heritage Tourism Center---across from the Adams Store, and will feature handmade Arts & Crafts, Craft Demonstrators, Live Music, Delicious Food, Children’s Area and the world famous Duck Race in the Suwannee. The festivities will begin on Friday at 4 p.m. with a guided Suwannee River hike. At the Nature and Tourism Center at 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. there will be a food tasting party called “Sweets & Eats” and then there will be a Street Dance from 7-10 p.m. The trail hike and the Street Dance, with live music, will be free and a $5 donation is being requested for the “Sweets and Eats.” “The food tasting party gives the community a chance to get together and sample the delicious treats made by their friends and neighbors and for businesses to introduce themselves to the community,” states Merri McKenzie, Special Events member. The Artisan Center Street Dance will feature music presented by DV3 and mc’d by a local DJ. The 5K Family Fun Run/Walk by the River (and through the Stephen Foster State Park!) will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. At 10 a.m. the Festival will begin and feature handmade arts and crafts of all kinds. The Arts and Crafts booths will be set up at the Nature and Tourism Center to show the hand-crafted wares of other participants. The Adams Store will be open to view the antiques that owner, Raymond Cheshire, has collected and has placed on display in his store. Live music will be on stage from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. next to the Tourism Center featuring local musicians. A special children’s area will be at the entrance to Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park. Miss Azalea will be crowned. The festival will end with the world famous Duck Race in the Suwannee- where all those who bought a yellow rubber duck will watch to see if their duck traverses the Suwannee and is first to cross under the White Spring bridge and win a kayak. All in all, a great day and a half of happenings in the Historic Town of White Springs. Come eat, dance, walk or run by the river. Wild Azaleas are on sale. The festival is free!