CULLMAN – Live music, craft vendors, a car show…and of course, strawberries. This year’s Strawberry Festival is almost here. The annual event will kick off this Friday at Festhalle and Depot Park. There is no admission fee. The festival is family-friendly, with several kids’ rides and activities and plenty of strawberry-themed treats, desserts and drinks.
Official hours for Cullman City Parks and Recreation’s (CP&R’s) 2017 Strawberry Festival are Friday, May 5 from 3-10 p.m. and Saturday, May 6 from 7 a.m.-10 p.m.
The annual Strawberry Festival Senior Day, put on by CP&R and the Cullman County Commission on Aging, will be on Friday, May 5 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Festhalle.
The senior event will feature live bluegrass music, bingo, food and contests, including buck dancing, the twist, strawberry sweet-tooth and the Third Annual Seniors Got Talent competition. Prizes will be awarded for each contest; the winner of the talent show will win $100. For more information or to register for contests, call the Commission on Aging office at 256-734-1241.
According to Waid Harbison with CP&R, “We will be adding the car show through the Warehouse District on Friday night, and most of the Warehouse District businesses will be staying open during the festival. We also have an awesome lineup of bands with some from last year, but largely new acts and names.”
Friday, May 5
- 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Senior Day
- 3 p.m.-sunset Kid Zone
- 3-8 p.m. Farmers Market
Friday music lineup
- 2-3 p.m. Cotton Pickin' Kids
- 3:30-5:30 p.m. TBD
- 5:30-7:30 p.m. The Overtones
- 8-10 p.m. Round 2
Saturday, May 6
- 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Farmers Market
- 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Craft Show
- 8 a.m.- sunset Kid Zone
- 3-10 p.m. Car Show
Saturday music lineup
- 9-9:30 a.m. Cullman High School Choir
- 10-11 a.m. Julie Ann & Gold Rush
- 11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Cullman Community Band
- 1-2:15 p.m. Shannon McNeal
- 2:45-4:45 p.m. Dusty from Trick Zipper
- 5:15-7:15 p.m. Pine Hill Haints
- 7:45-10 p.m. Max Russell & the Shakedown Kings
“Also new to this year will be a two-day craft show,” Harbison said. “In the past, the craft show has only been held on Saturday, but all 120-plus vendors will be on site for both days. We will also have a lot more strawberries this year for sale at the Farmer’s Market. We doubled our crowd size last year and were not prepared for the double in crowd size; we will have almost double the strawberries from last year at this year’s festival.”
Harbison said he and everyone involved with the event are excited about the growth of the festival, which he attributes, at least partially, to the extra traffic from the state track meet held at Cullman High School the same weekend.
“We’re looking forward to more vendors, more cars in the car show and an expanded kids’ area with new items, and the great lineup of bands,” he said. “We are also excited about the Warehouse District businesses being on board this year as well, staying open late as part of the festival.”
For more information, contact the Cullman Civic Center at 256-734-9157, email info@cullmanrecreation.org or visit http://qrne.ws/strawberry.
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