Annual Faison Market Day to be held Saturday
By Catharin Shepard
Published in News on October 7, 2009 1:46 PM
Music, food, arts and crafts and more are in the works for the sixth annual Faison Market Day this Saturday.
The town of Faison holds the festival every year to shine a spotlight on agriculture -- a large part of the town's heritage and still one of its biggest and most important industries.
True to its name, visitors to the Market Day will be able to snap up snap beans, sweet potatoes, cabbages, collard greens, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers and more locally grown crops. All the farm-fresh fruits and vegetables are produced locally by area farmers, Faison Mayor Elmer Flake said.
But the farmer's market is only one of a variety of planned events. The festival will kick off with a 5K walk/run starting at Park Circle at 8 a.m. The 5K was added to the Faison Market Day shortly after it began, and has continued to grow in size.
"We've got better than 35 registrants," Flake said. "This will be one of the most successful walk/runs we've had."
A parade will proceed down West Main Street at 10 a.m. About 37 entries will roll, walk or ride down the parade route this year, and the town is still accepting entries.
"Anybody who comes up and wants to be in it, we'll give them a number. We're flexible," Flake said.
People seeking a snack might be interested in the variety of foods offered for sale by a variety of vendors. Sellers will have everything from barbecue to sweet treats.
The opening ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. immediately following the parade. Entertainment and activities will be held from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
The town is already preparing for the all-day event, readying the stage and street sweepers.
"We're going to clean the streets, the streets will be blocked off that morning. Then we'll have the vendors on the streets, and we'll have a center stage and things going on there," Flake said.
Local singing groups are scheduled to perform, and a DJ will be on hand in the afternoon to provide music.