City Lights Festival draws a crowd

“I think it went very well,” said Hasco Craver, who as executive director of the Downtown Development Authority was the person most responsible for putting on the festival. “I was very pleased with the turnout and the quality of the arts and crafts. The food vendors seemed to be well-received and the car show brought several hundred people to the downtown for that event alone.”

But it was the music that stood out for Craver.

“That guy playing last? He won a Grammy,” Craver said. “He played with Charlie Daniels for 20 years and co-wrote a lot of the songs like ‘The Devil went Down to Georgia.’ You were hearing the guy who wrote those songs play them.”

The farmers’ market had another week of good attendance, and Craver said the 215 participants in the Star Chase 5K Road Race made it the biggest 5K this year in the county.

“We had people from North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama, from Warner Robins, Douglasville and Macon up here for the race,” he said. The participants seemed to like the new route — mostly along Broad and Elm streets — because it was flatter than the previous routes.

“One of the runners brought a concert harp,” Craver reported. “She sat in the gazebo after the race when people were getting refreshments and played. It was neat.”

The festival may have helped commerce in Commerce as well. Craver reported hearing of strong sales by the three downtown restaurants and that several local merchants said they had steady business all day.

Like last year, the crowd built early and stayed strong through lunch, after which it tapered off until after 6:00, when it built again to peak during the fireworks.
“Really, it’s taxing for a lot of folks to sit outside that long. It’s the last weekend in June, so it is generally pretty hot,” Craver mused. “From 3:00 to 6:00 it’s really hot. People either escaped to the downtown restaurants or their living rooms, both of which are air conditioned, and then they come back for the music and the fireworks.”

Craver said the food vendors stayed open until after 10:00, taking advantage of the crowd in and around Spencer Park for the fireworks.

Volunteers who helped clean up the area after the festival left shortly after midnight.

For photo coverage of the City Lights Downtown Festival, see the July 2 issue of The Commerce News.