This year’s Auburn CityFest will be held Saturday, April 25, from 9a.m.-4p.m. at Kiesel Park.
CityFest is going on its 15th year as Auburn’s largest free outdoor festival. The event will be presented by the Opelika-Auburn News and Four Seasons Credit Union, among many others including Jim ‘N Nicks BBQ, which will be catering the event, according to Mary Ellen Dixon, interim public relations specialist for Auburn parks and recreation and co-coordinator for Auburn CityFest.
This year’s theme of Blues and BBQ will include entertainment for children as well as adults.
“We’re going to have three bands throughout the day, along with all the children’s activities and its going to be a really fun day,” said Morgan Gamble, special events and programs intern for the parks and recreation department. “We’re hoping for some good weather and that a lot of people come out to join us.”
The headlining act for this year is Alabama Blues Project. The group is made up of three women based from Tuscaloosa, but have played in Auburn many times according to Gamble.
“We also have Big Swamp Blue Band and Soul Coalition,” Gamble said. “They are all blues bands, local to the Auburn area.”
The bands will play all day while parents enjoy the arts and crafts vendor section as well as nonprofit vendor section and food vendor section.
“Parents can do a little early Christmas shopping or getting birthday gifts,” Dixon said. “We have a little over 80 arts and crafts and fine arts vendors and they sell anything from jewelries, potteries, photographs; really anything you can think of, we will have one vendor out there that does that.”
Parents can enjoy food, music, shopping and other festivities while their children spend time in the children’s imagination station.
“For CityFest, we have a section called the children’s imagination station,” said Evelyn Walker, intern for the parks and recreation department and in charge of the CIS. “It is catered for children ages 5-12 and we have a lot of really awesome activities that are planned.”
The CIS will include a wide variety of activities for children to enjoy: the headlining hog racing from the Hogway Speedway Racing Pigs, inflatable moon jumps and obstacle courses and demonstrations from the Boy Scouts of America and the Central Alabama Mountain Peddlers, among others, according to Walker.
The fun-filled day for children doesn’t end there, as there will also be pony rides from Jubilee Farms; an outdoors expo for children from Mountain High Outfitters; a sandbox farm dig from the Home Depot and a tractor for children to take pictures with, courtesy of Sun South John Deere, according to Dixon.
“This is really an event for all ages,” Dixon said. “We have people come from all over to come to this event.”
Admission for the event is free and will go on rain or shine.
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