The Hahira Honeybee Festival was started in 1981 by Mamie Sorrell and Adeline Landrum. The two ladies loved Hahira and had a vision “to liven up the city” with a weekend of arts, crafts, entertainment, and a parade. It takes place in October every year and attracts visitors from all over South Georgia and North Florida. The weekend festival has grown into a week-long extravaganza.
For that week, the whole town is turned upside down for all sorts of activities, but Saturday is the main day, with all the vendors out and the largest crowd. It’s been said that anywhere from 20-30,000 visitors will breeze in for the festival every year. The crowd lining the streets for the parade is full of moms, dads, grandpas, and grandmas with their little ones.
Since today was the day for it…I decided to go down and take some photos of the crowds, some of the vendors, and of course some of the more unique sites. I ran into handcrafted leather, jewelry, painted wind chimes, and Darth Vader. Seriously. I ran into Darth Vader and members of the 501st Georgia Garrison.
Just goes to show…you can’t go wrong going to the Honeybee.