31st Watermelon Festival a success

Kimberly Barron, Annabel Embry and Skylar Embry enjoy a slice of watermelon during Saturday's annual Watermelon Festival.

After a busy weekend at the Franklin County Watermelon Festival, organizers said they have heard nothing but good reports from many of the people who were involved in the festival and those who just came out to have a good time.

Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Nina McNatt said this year’s festival went off without a hitch.

“Getting the vendors set up is usually the most stressful part, but even that went well this year,” McNatt said. “Everything just went very smoothly.”

McNatt said this year’s crowd was impressive as well, especially considering several outside factors that organizers had feared would hurt festival attendance.

“There were two jamborees this year on Friday night, so we were worried we wouldn’t have a very big crowd, but there were tons of people who showed up and we had a great crowd over at the main stage for the entertainment,” McNatt said.

“Even with it being so hot on Saturday, people still showed up.”

McNatt said one thing that helped the heat situation on Saturday was having the Roxy open with entertainment provided inside so people would have a cool place to go and relax after being in the heat for a long time.

“The entertainment we had at the Roxy, the courthouse and on the main stage was great this year and the crowd really seemed to enjoy everyone who performed,” she said.

McNatt added that in addition to members of the general public who have expressed their satisfaction with this year’s Watermelon Festival, most of the vendors told her they had a good weekend as well.

“You always want your vendors to do well so they will be encouraged to come back in the years to come and all the vendors seemed to do well this year,” McNatt said.

The Watermelon Festival is known for its contests, but those who stopped by the contest area on Saturday witnessed more than some healthy competition. Cliff Knight, of Decatur, won first place for the largest watermelon at the festival, but at 228 pounds, Knight’s watermelon was the largest ever recorded in Alabama history.

Other contest winners at the festival included:

Most Unusual-Stephanie Smith; Biggest-Cliff Knight, first place with a 228-pound watermelon; Rex Hudson, second place with a 160-pound watermelon; Eric Smith, third place with a 157-pound watermelon; Best Tasting-Rex Hudson, first place; Anthony Viglietta, second place; Alex Jones, third place; Best Dressed- Rebecca Romans, first place; Jessica Butler, second place; Vicky Hancock, third place.