Honeybee Festival Brings Crowd To LaFayette

Officials estimate that as many as 5,000 people lined LaFayette, Ga.’s Main Street as the annual Honeybee Festival got underway Saturday morning. As the crowd swarmed, the thermometer on a local bank sign read 91 degrees.

That didn’t stop festival goers from enjoying live music on four stages and the music was to continue until 6 p.m.

There was plenty of food as well as crafts for the entire family. Sheriff Steve Wilson said, “The event brings together everyone from in and around Walker County and is just a lot of fun.”

LaFayette High School was well represented serving up fresh from the grill hamburgers and hot dogs with all the trimmings.

This was the first time for many of the vendors like Jackie and Abby Gray of Hixson. The mother daughter team displayed a large variety of elderberry from their Agraria Urban Farm.

This was also Molly Corona’s first visit to the festival. The three-year-old dog was born during the pandemic.

“Aint just whistling Dixie – Dixieland band” played favorites for several hours at the corner of S. Main and E. Patton Streets. Favorites included “Down by the Riverside” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Festival goers would stop and sing along with the musicians.

While visitors were enjoying their food Joe Capo entertained by playing guitar melodies.

Officials said, “The festival is when the Queen City of the Highlands swarm downtown LaFayette for a day of music, food and fun."

The city of LaFayette is the proud home of the Annual Honeybee Festival. In 2017, the Honeybee Festival was born and proved to be a huge success for the area.

Organizers noted, "Honeybees are essential to life on our planet. If the honeybees were to ever disappear, so would life itself."

The city of LaFayette works to bring attention to the importance of preserving the honeybee population.

Officials said, "We also see the importance of the honeybee population as a parallel to preserving the life of our own community."

During the event there’s a special tent where free demonstrations can be seen.