The International Cherry Blossom Festival will be holding its 40th year annual festival March 18-27 in Carolyn Crayton Park in Macon. After a two year hiatus, the plan is to bring the festival back at full throttle.
In addition to normal staples like fair rides, concessions and nightly concerts, Macon has its own collection of small town contests full of typical southern charm. From the Cherry Blossom Ball opening night, to the food truck frenzy, to racing wiener dogs and modified beds racing down Cherry Street, the events have something for everyone.
Macon is home to over 350,000 Yoshino cherry trees, and each spring those beautiful blossoms turn Macon into a pink scene that stretches all over town. Just for good measure, the citizens go about turning everything else pink as well.
Artist and Wesleyan College grad Arrin Freeman-Burgand has contributed greatly to Middle Georgia's mural art scene over the last eight years. For Macon's Cherry Blossom Festival, she put together something extra special for Macon, and herself, in the form of a new mural.
"It's just therapeutic when you put the brush on the glass and the way it glides. There's just an internal excitement that I can't explain that kind of keeps me going," Freeman-Burgand said to 13WMAZ.
Freeman-Burgand's mural stands on the corner of Third Street and Cherry Street, a central hub for the festivities.
In addition to stationary art and rooted trees, music artists from all over are coming in for the festival's large live music scene including Walker Hayes, whose song "Fancy Like" rose to popularity through a TikTok trend, and Niko Moon, an artist who has written hits for Dierks Bentley, Rascal Flatts, and Morgan Wallen.
The festival has grown vastly over the past 40 years, starting simply as a birthday celebration in 1982 and becoming a week-long fair full of fun, culture and now national recognition. This year's festivities looks to be no different.
Henry Keating '24 is a Journalism and History student at Mercer. He has worked at The Cluster as SGA correspondent, State and Local News Editor, Managing Editor and now as the Editor-in-Chief. Henry has held internships at the Macon Newsroom, Macon Telegraph, and Greenville Post and Courier. He enjoys backpacking, rom-coms, pottery and photography.
