Mark Your Calendars! The Cotton Pickin' Fair is Oct 3rd and 4th

Awards and accolades follow The Cotton Pickin’ Fair in Gay, GA. Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue recently announced that the Georgia Tourism Foundation selected The Cotton Pickin’ Fair as a Founding Producer of Distinction in the Georgia Made, Georgia Grown Creative Economies Initiative. Also, The Cotton Pickin’ Fair was again selected from over 500 regional events to represent the best of thirteen southeastern states as a Southeast Tourism Society Top Twenty Event.

Join us on October 3 & 4, 2009 in Gay, Georgia, on the old Gay Family Farm, a unique 1910 era venue where 300 skilled artisans from across the North America deliver the best fine pottery, weaving, sculpture, woodcarving, painting, jewelry, and other forms of innovative talent.

The Cotton Pickin’ Fair’s 100 year old buildings, regional southern food prepared right before your eyes, exciting entertainers on six rustic stages, and talented craftsmen and artists uniquely combine for a memorable family event. Many of your favorite artisans return to their usual locations, but new and exciting are our watch words… South Carolina Fiber Artist, Lynn Shore, knits her fashionable purses, shawls, and ponchos in brightly colored yarns, to produce the perfect accessory for a fall wardrobe. Sepia-tone photographs of rural cotton fields by Ron Rocz of Charleston, SC, evoke an image of an earlier era while Sisters, Sarah Erwin and Jennifer Garis, one from North Carolina, the other from the Washington state, have perfected their Grandmother’s jam and jelly recipes just for you.

Sit on a bale of hay or on a bench for awhile. Enjoy music, folk dancing, and Peter Hart’s lively marionettes. The Cotton Scale, originally used for weighing mule-drawn cotton wagons, is home to foot stomping blue grass music and the Hammermill Stage, once part of the cattle feed lot, hosts regional musicians, and dancers. Jeff Hicks will amaze you with dazzling magic tricks under a majestic White Oak Tree.

Arrive with an appetite and support the programs of more than 20 non-profit, civic-minded partner organizations, churches and schools. They bake, fry, broil, boil, steam, and stew delicious southern foods, for breakfast, lunch, and supper at The Cotton Pickin’ Fair.

While in Gay visit our friends at QC Arena, www.qcarena.com for an action packed rodeo experience as members of the Georgia High School Rodeo Association compete on Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 PM. And, Georgia Quail Hunting is at its best on Big Red Oak Plantation, www.bigredoakplantation.com .

As a Southeast Tourism Top Twenty Event, The Cotton Pickin’ Fair is certain to make a fun-filled day for you and your family. Hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday, October 3 & 4, 2009; admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children, ages 4 to 12. For additional information and driving directions to The Cotton Pickin’ Fair - Gay, Georgia, visit www.cpfair.org.
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Get Away to Great Past Times During Labor Day Weekend at Powers' Crossroads Festival in Newnan, Ga., Aug. 30 - Sept. 1

PRNewswire/ -- The Powers' Crossroads Country Fair and Art Festival opens for its 38th consecutive year on Labor Day Weekend with new entertainment as it continues to celebrate its proud tradition as host to innovative art exhibitions in this West Georgia community.

"It's a great opportunity for festival visitors to dial back the hands of time and experience a real country fair set in the rolling woodlands of this west Georgia community," said Carol Chancy, the festival's executive director.

Held every year on the 100 acres of historic Powers Plantation in Newnan, Ga., near Franklin, Ga., the Powers' Crossroads Festival will open at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, and will wrap up at 5 p.m. Labor Day afternoon, Sept. 1, after a 2 p.m. Miss Coweta County Pageant, a preliminary event for the Miss West Georgia competition in January 2009.

Festival hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and military personnel, $3 for children ages 5-12, and free for children 4 and under. Parking is free and complimentary shuttle service is available from the parking areas.

Visit www.newnan.com/powers for additional information and driving directions.

With a proud heritage as one of the best events in the Southeast, Powers brings back again this year its local Rising Star talent competition on the Festival's opening day.

Beginning at 10 a.m. 30 contestants will vie for the title of the 2008 Powers' Crossroads Rising Star. Contestants will compete in one of three age categories: 15-18 years old; 19-34; and, 35 plus.

This year's three celebrity judges for the rising star competition are "Mid-Days" radio personality J. D. from Midwest Georgia's music station, Magic 98.1, WMGP-FM in Newnan; Jessica Scott, Miss West Georgia 2008; and Linda Walker, owner of the talent agency Speer Entertainment and Really Big Productions, Inc., an entertainment production company.

They will select a winner from each age group, and from that group of three, the judges -- with some audience participation -- will select the 2008 Powers' Crossroads Rising Star.

Each age group winner will receive cash prizes and will perform an Encore Show Monday, Sept. 1 prior to the Miss Coweta County competition.

Visitors to this year's festival can also find perennial favorites in shopping for unique arts and crafts. Each of the more than 200 artisans showcasing their work for sale is selected by judges during the course of the year.

Judges for this year's art competition are Amanda Dumas-Hernandez, a Newnan native who is currently an instructor at the Savannah College of Art & Design's Atlanta campus, and Claudia McDavid, the Art Partners Program Officer for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

This year, visitors may also see a limited viewing of art purchased by the Festival between 1971-2007.

Each year the Festival art judges select several pieces to purchase as exemplary of that particular year's offerings at the Festival. Known as the Purchase Awards, there are currently more than 100 works of art in this collection.

The Powers' Crossroads Country Fair and Art Festival is organized and produced by five local non-profit organizations as their annual major fundraiser with net proceeds divided among the organizations. They are: Newnan Coweta Chamber of Commerce, Newnan Coweta Arts Association, Coweta 4H, Newnan Coweta Jaycees and The Pilot Club of Newnan

Presenting sponsors include Buffalo Rock Beverages and Food Services, Newnan, Ga., West Georgia Technical College, LaGrange, Ga., Toyota of Newnan.

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