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City employees have been working for weeks preparing the city for Saturday’s big blue event.
The annual Alabama Blueberry Festival will kick off at 8 a.m. at Jennings Park and will fill the day with fun activities, food, drinks, vendors and of course, blueberries.
Hosted by the Greater Brewton Area Chamber of Commerce, the event will bring a variety of shopping opportunities and plenty of chances to sample delights locally produced just for the festival.
Chamber Executive Director Judy Crane said Brewton’s blueberries will be a part of variety of specialty food items.
“We pick up blueberries grown and picked right here in Brewton to deliver to the ice cream maker (Old Dutch Creamery) in Mobile,” Crane said. “We also make sure to supply our cooks with blueberries to produce plenty of blueberry cobbler and blueberry crunch.”
Even one of the food vendors, Pig Daddy’s, usually locally grown blueberries for their original blueberry bread pudding.
Crane said those who preordered ice cream will be able to come for their order on Thursday.
“We will be set up at Jennings Park beginning at 5 p.m. on Thursday for pre-order pick up,” Crane said. “We will also have preordered tshirts ready for pick up as well.”
Don’t worry if you failed to preorder your ice cream. Crane said there will be some available on festival day.
“We order enough to cover preorders and have some for the festival,” Crane said. “We will sell the blueberry ice cream by the cup, as long as it lasts, during the festival.”
Crane said the blueberry cobbler and crunch dishes go quickly on festival day, because it’s just that good.
“We are so thankful for the lunchroom ladies at W.S. Neal Elementary School for taking on this task each year,” Crane said. “They do an excellent job. We supply all the ingredients and they do all the work, baking and preparing the dishes. We will pick those up early on Saturday morning to have ready when the festival opens.”
In the field of vendors set for the day, shoppers can find almost anything the mind can imagine. From clothes, jewelry, regionally produced jams, jellies, preserves and sauces, custom items from cups to caps and everything in between.
Food vendors set to be on hand for the day include:
Pig Daddy’s BBQ serving pulled pork sandwiches, pulled pork nachos and blueberry bread pudding;
E&I Enterprises serving U-Squeeze lemonade, dipped frozen cheesecake on a stick, frozen banana on a stick, hot tamales and red beans and rice;
Taste of Summer serving turkey legs and roasted corn;
Mudbug Mafia serving crawfish, shrimp and jambalaya;
Cobb & Company serving chicken tenders, chicken tender sandwiches, sweet kettle popcorn, pork rinds, funnel cakes, corn dogs, hamburgers, chili cheese fries, blooming onions, onion rings, cotton candy, chili dogs, fried Oreos and cheese fries;
Chamber of Commerce will be serving blueberry ice cream, blueberry cobbler and blueberry crunch.
Sponsors for the 2023 Festival are:
Platinum: Creamer Power Equipment, Main Street Family Care, Best Western Brewton Inn and Georgia-Pacific
Gold: Leaf-Fitter Gutter Protection;
Silver: Country Place Senior Living; WeyerHaeuser; Leaf Guard; Vision Center South; Cutco Cutler; Valvoline Instant Oil Change; EcoView windows & Doors/Certified Pro Roofers; D.W. McMillan Home Health; Country Express; Grede; Aetna; People Engaged in Recovery; Willow Mountain Distributors, Inc.; D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital; and Whataburger.
City organizers are also planning a street dance on Friday evening at Market Park in downtown Brewton.
Music is set to begin 7 p.m. and will feature the Tip Tops for listening and dancing. The event is planned to run through 9 p.m.
Visitors to the dance and festival should keep in mind that parking is limited in the downtown area. Some walking may be required from more remote parking for the event.