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TRISHA MURPHY/Palatka Daily News – Chairwoman Kathy Griffin, center, and volunteers Dana Lewis, left, and Lexie Lee, have taken the reins to bring back the Florida Azalea Festival to Palatka on March 2-3.
The Florida Azalea Festival and Crescent City Catfish Festival are back and organizers are raring to go.
The two local festivals will return this year after three- and five-year hiatuses, respectively.
Florida Azalea Festival
This year’s Azalea Festival will mark its 75th anniversary March 2-3 in downtown Palatka. While there will be no parade this year, highlights include food vendors with culinary delights, live music in two locations, beer tents, a kid zone, local artists, homemade crafts and more.
Festival hours will be from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. March 2 and from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. March 3.
Vendors will be located on St. Johns Avenue from First through Sixth streets, in the Putnam County Courthouse parking lot and along the riverfront during the evening of March 2 evening and all day until 9 p.m. March 3.
The festival chairwoman is Kathy Griffin, the president of Revitalize Historic Palatka, which is hosting the event. For details on vendor space, call Griffin at 386-328-7502 by Wednesday. Griffin can also be reached at rhpazalea@gmail.com.
Available for sale during the event, azaleas and crepe myrtles will decorate some of the street corners.
According to palatkaazaleafest.com, the festival has been a cherished tradition in Palatka, known as the Gem City, for a long time. The theme for this year’s event is “Where Blossoms, Bites and Business Unite – Celebrating 75 Years of Vibrant Tradition.”
The Azalea Festival pageant took place Jan. 20 at Florida School of the Arts, where 20 contestants competed and were crowned. The titleholders will be announced during the mayor’s reception on the evening of March 1.
The winners will also be on hand during the two-day festival to meet and greet guests.
T-shirts, the logos for which were designed by John and Stanley Hodge of Designs, will be available in sizes small to XX-large for $25.
According to Griffin, the Florida Azalea Festival has been a tradition in Palatka since 1938.
“Our focus is to bring awareness to our beautiful downtown area and to generate interest in our community,” Griffin said. “Hopefully, people who come to the festival will be interested in other aspects of our city and return for future events.”
Catfish Festival
The 42nd Crescent City Catfish Festival will be April 6 at Eva Lyons Park, 100 S. Summit St. in Crescent City. The festival is hosted by the Rotary Club of Crescent City, with member Rodney Phillips serving as chairman.
The festival will start with food and other vendors opening at 10 a.m. followed by a parade at 11 a.m. The band Frazzeled will perform at 12:30 p.m. and live Latin music starting with Clave 386 will begin at 3 p.m. The festival, which will also include a car show, will end at 5 p.m.
The Catfish Festival is known for its cuisine delicacies, including fresh catfish dinners, swamp cabbage, gator tail, quail, frog legs, fresh strawberry shortcake and funnel cakes.
Proceeds from the festival go towards the Dollars for Scholars Rotary scholarship for local high school seniors. More than $1 million in scholarships have been given to students since the festival’s inception.
In the decades since the festival started, Phillips said, an estimated 20,000 people have been in attendance.
Phillips said the festival is a safe, fun environment for the whole family with something to offer for all ages.
“Folks know the cause and support the festival and the vision for Dollars for Scholars,” he said. “We have hundreds of volunteers that supply their talents. Without them, we couldn’t be successful.”
Phillips looks forward to the festival growing back to becoming a two-day event with the support of area residents.
“We are thankful for all the folks who plan to attend and all the volunteers who help us,” he said. “We hope the community is eager to join us as we prepare and look forward to seeing our friends and neighbors.”
Bostwick Blueberry Festival
Right on the heels of the Azalea and Catfish festivals is the Bostwick Blueberry Festival.
Now in its 25th year, the festival will take place April 27 at the Bostwick Community Center, 125 Tillman St.
The festival features locally grown blueberries, vendors, contests, blueberry pancakes and other tasty foods. Volunteers, including Dawn Rawls, will again make 600 blueberry pies for sale. Festival T-shirts will also be available.
The festival, which is being co-chaired by Christy Null, will also include entertainment, craft vendors and lots of fun.
“This is our 25th festival and we are publishing a new cookbook just for the 25th anniversary,” said co-chairwoman Linda Bazar. “It’s all going to be all homestyle stuff. We do have some new recipes. It’s going to be a compilation of some of our cookbooks we’ve done over the years.”
For details, call 904-591-9020 or 904-703-0810 or email bostwickblueberryfestival@gmail.com.
