Camilla’s Gnat Days Festival begins tonight

CAMILLA, Ga. — The 2013 edition of Camilla’s Gnat Days Festival gets under way at 7 p.m. today with a 5K race beginning in the park behind the courthouse.

Activities resume Saturday at 8 a.m. with vendors set up near the courthouse. A bike race is set for 9 a.m., followed by a pet show at 10 a.m. Immediately after the conclusion of the bike race, awards will be given to the various winners on the festival stage, and bikes will be given away to six children.

A children’s area will return this year featuring activities such as a jump house, goldfish toss, pony rides, train rides, basketball toss and live animals.

Entertainment is planned throughout the day Saturday featuring, among others, Camilla United Methodist Church’s Warehouse Worship Band and the Camilla Jazz Band.

A chicken wing eating contest is set for 1 p.m. Saturday on the stage. For festivalgoers with an appetite, Court Alley will feature a variety of treats including funnel cakes, fried green tomatoes, barbecue, cotton candy and curly fries.

The festival concludes with the “Under the Oaks” dance on the festival site. Camilla’s own Georgia 3 will perform. Members of the band include Cody Murphy, Chris Bell, Antonia Ruiz, Tony Thomas and Crystal Thomas. The street dance begins at 8 p.m. and continues thorugh 11:30 p.m.

For additional information, call the Camilla Chamber of Commerce at (229) 336-5255.