Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Forest Festival Nears

Where had the time gone?

In four weeks the annual Gurdon Forest Festival will again fill the city's streets with music, song and a ton of vendors.

Freddie Horne, festival director, spoke to the Gurdon Rotary Club about the upcoming event.

The T-shirt design has been changed and this year will show an antique car exiting 1999 and heading toward the new millennium.

This year, Horne said, another great show is anticipated. Already more than 90 arts and crafts vendors have said they would come.

The festival will kick off again with the Rotary pancake breakfast at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 30. The breakfast is being sponsored by Thomason's Big Star, Horne said.

The booths will open at 8 a.m., while the Eric Griffin Memorial Run will take place around then as well.

The antique car show will start at 9 o'clock, and has a $15 entry fee for those interested.

The annual Forest Festival Parade will run its route through the streets of Gurdon at 10 a.m., as the festivities settle down somewhat so visitors can have plenty of time to check out the food vendors as well as the other booths.

The logging contests have been moved this year. In years past these events have been held on Front Street, but this year will be located at the former site of the old cleaners downtown.

Center stage on Main Street will be filled with performers including Winnie Clark, LeAndra Jester, along with plenty more local talent.

As a special treat, De Queen's Michael Eudy has a 30 minute set he will perform.

The official welcome will again be held at noon, with local and area politicians getting a chance to speak, if they so desire.

The Gurdon Go-Devil Marching Band will also hit the pavement to perform during the festival.

At 4 p.m., Horne said, the Community Development and Entertainment (CD&E) Club will hold its annual auction, with plenty of goodies on the block for sale.

This will be followed by the judging of the Halloween contests.

The festival will end with the street dance, once again. This year Bruce Webb and the Mountain Dew Band will be the featured performers.

"We've gotten a lot of support from the local businesses," Horne said. "This is one of the best festivals in the south part of the state."

Horne and Terry Norris travel the state during the year, going from festival to festival to see what is being done right and wrong.

What works they try at Gurdon, while leaving what doesn't work alone.

Horne said people from Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Missouri come to the Forest Festival.

This year's carnival, he added, will be spread out more and not be so confining as in years past. A new carnival with different events will be on hand for the festival.

Last year, he said, some 4,000 visitors came to the Forest Festival. "We want everyone to have fun."