Market Days festival a big success; Downtown merchants get a boost

Vegetable vendor Joe Dyson contemplates the crowds at Saturday's Market Days Street Festival that brought crowds from all over to shop and enjoy a small-town celebration. (Photo by Kip Burke) Saturday's first annual Market Days Street Festival in Washington was a success thanks to an outpouring local support, said festival organizers Bradley and Katherine Barber, and Downtown merchants say it brought them new customers and more business.

Crowds filled the festival area at Court and Allison Streets, and spilled over into the stores and restaurants on The Square from early Saturday. "The markets we advertised to really came out. I looked at car tags all over downtown and saw mostly out of town cars - Columbia County, Athens, Atlanta, South Carolina."

Although vendors filled the festival area and did great business, downtown retailers took part in the event. "The retail support on The Square was crucial to the festival's success," he said. "The retailers who set their tables out on the sidewalks really saw the benefit."

Merchant Henry Harris had nothing but good to say about the first Market Days. "Business was outstanding. We saw lots of people we'd never seen before, and they were from all over. The event was very well promoted, and that made a tremendous difference."

The crowds enjoyed a diverse range of vendors, and took part in special events including cooking demonstrations by Chef Doug Janousek and chef-in-training Anthony Macchia.

All day, visitors enjoyed live local music by Adam Reddick, Bragg N'Hughes, Mack Gecko, Kirk Edwards, and others.

During the Georgia-Florida football game, crowds gathered on the patio of The Fitzpatrick Hotel to watch the game with friends.

The all-day music culminated with The Friendz Band playing for an "Off the Square" dance that brought the day to a close.

Now that the first annual event is behind them, planning is under way for the next event. "I woke up Sunday morning planning for next year," Katherine said. "I'm so excited about the next festival."

"We learned a lot from the success we had this year," Bradley said, "so we can make it better for next year. And after a first year like this, I guarantee there'll be festival next year, and it'll be great."