Big Time Fun in Small Town Texas!
(Columbus, TX) – Excitement is brewing in Columbus as the Chamber of Commerce finalizes preparations for the 2018 Magnolia Days Festival. Happening on the Courthouse Square on Friday and Saturday, May 18 and 19, the Magnolia Days Festival is two days of fun for the entire family, including delicious food, a Biergarten featuring Texas craft beers and local wines, a Family Fun Zone with activities for both the young and “young at heart” including a petting zoo, camel rides, rock-climbing wall, bounce house, bungee trampoline, miniature train ride, and carnival games. Horse and carriage rides will be available both nights. Add in a fantastic lineup of free concerts to keep festival goers dancing in the streets and the Magnolia Days Festival has something for everyone to enjoy!
The Magnolia Days Festival will be also feature dozens of street vendors offering a variety of arts & crafts, jewelry, candles, clothing, soaps, and other items for sale. Food trucks and food vendors will offer a variety of sweet and savory treats for guests to enjoy, including burgers, crawfish (while supplies last), tacos and egg rolls, loaded potato fries, shaved ice, Frito pies, hot dogs, ice cream sundaes, and roasted corn.
Acoustic musical acts will play in the afternoons, followed by live concerts each night featuring Cody Canada & The Departed, the Zack Walther Band, Drew Kennedy, Black Cat Choir, The Barditch Hippies, and The Dujka Brothers Band. All concerts are free to the public.
Adults will enjoy the Biergarten, offering canned domestic beers and unique Texas craft beers on tap. Several local wineries will be on hand selling their wines in the Wine Garden.
Originally known as the Magnolia Homes Tour, the festival was first launched 1962 as a tour of local historic homes and blossomed in the 70’s into a full-blown festival, which was held annually for more than four decades. Dormant for nearly ten years,
the Chamber of Commerce revived the event in 2016 and this year promises it will be bigger and better than ever.
True to its roots, in conjunction with the Columbus Historic Preservation Trust (CHPT), the Festival will conduct tours of nine or more historic homes on Saturday afternoon from 2-5 p.m., hosted by the Magnolia Belles, a group of high school seniors who are active in community service and have undergone extensive docent training. The annual ‘Presentation of the Belles,’ where the young ladies dress in Victorian-era dresses, has been a tradition in Columbus for 55 years and will be held on both Friday night in the Stafford Opera House and on Saturday afternoon on the Courthouse Square. The Belles are ambassadors of goodwill for both CHPT and the City of Columbus.
More Magnolia Days Festival information is available at www.magnoliadays.org. The fun begins at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 18 and at 12 Noon on Saturday, May 19.