Author: Kathy Hemsworth Source: The Newport Plain Talk
PARROTTSVILLE-Spring in the Mountains will be held at Parrott-Larue-Myers Park Friday through Sunday, June 5-7. Don Ellison, of the American Red Cross, explained, "Proceeds will benefit the Cocke County Red Cross and its service and delivery efforts." Setup for vendors will begin after 5 p.m. Friday. Ellison said festival organizers will remain on site around the clock to ensure security. "During the set up on Friday, there will be judging and activities for the vendors as well as general public," Ellison explained. 0A There will be cakewalks and judging of floral arrangements during that time. Anyone wishing to enter a floral arrangement needs to have it at the park in time for judging, which will begin promptly at 7 p.m. Friday. "There will be different divisions of the floral arrangement competition," he explained. "We are hoping for a spring flower motif and encourage everyone to participate by bringing in their floral arrangements. We will present certificates of recognition and ribbons to the winners." On Saturday, the opening ceremony will be held at 9:45 a.m. followed by the festival kickoff at 10. Baby pageants will begin at 11 a.m. and will be followed by children's and queen pageants. For more information about the pageants, call Misty Myers before 9 p.m. at (423) 623-5455. There will be plenty of food and craft vendors set up throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. In addition, there will be free entertainment on two stages, the event stage and the community stage. Entertainment will include karaoke and dance contests. Children's activities will include Fun Olympics and duck races every two hours on both Saturday and Sunday. He said every two hours there will be eight children participate in each heat of the duck race with a duck racing down the creek at the back of the park. The winning duck from each heat will then advance to the next level. The final event , which will declare an overall winner, will be held at a set time on Sunday. On Saturday, the festival will close at 5 p.m. for Parrottsville's Saturday Night in the Park to begin. Bluegrass music will then be played until the park closes. Festivities will resume on Sunday, June 7, from noon to 5 p.m. with the vendor booths, children's activities and music. Ellison pointed out the festival is a Keep Cocke County Beautiful Litter Free Event. Also throughout the event, Tennessee Bear Rescue will conduct presentations about bear safety and awareness and Cocke County Aeries will be on site performing HAM radio demonstrations and will allow visitors to talk to people around the world. Anyone interested in setting up an information booth or vendor booth should call Don Ellison at (423) 736-0877. He said prices are dependent upon the size of the booth and whether it has electricity or not. Admission to the festival will be free, but all donations for the Red Cross will be accepted and appreciated, Ellison said.
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