FESTIVALS & FUN

from Living Here 2019

RIVER & TWINE

FESTIVALS and FUN

By Jessie H. Nunery

Twin Counties residents have a variety of festival options stretching across U.S. 64 throughout the year.

For the past 23 years, downtown Nashville has kicked off the fun each May with its annual Blooming Festival. The event brings together area residents for two days of fun that includes live music performances, amusement park rides and games, food and beverage vendors and more.

The event is sponsored by the Nashville Chamber of Commerce.

Another county seat, Tarboro, continues the fun later in May with its one-day Happening on the Common event.

Happening on the Common is the secondlongest-running festival in either county and celebrated its 47th year in 2019. Sponsored by local entities including the Town of Tarboro, the event includes arts and crafts and inflatables for children, food and alcohol vendors and live music.

Tarboro’s Town Common was established in 1760 by the legislative act that created the

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colonial town of Tarboro.

Downtown Rocky Mount is the place to be during the first weekend in June during the city’s Juneteenth Community Empowerment Festival. The weekend has brought national recording acts including Avant, Dru Hill and Vivian Green to Rocky Mount in recent years.

During the two-day event, students who achieve A/B honor roll status also are honored, local food trucks and vendors are available for purchases and keynote speakers highlight a festival designed around fun while celebrating “Juneteenth,” a holiday that was first celebrated in 1980 in Texas as recognition for the emancipation of slavery.

Rocky Mount also is the home to the annual Eastern Carolina BBQ Throw Down Festival during the second weekend of October. The event takes place on the lawn of the Helen P. Gay Rocky Mount Historic Train station and brings in some of the top grillmasters in the state and beyond.

The two-day event, which will celebrate its 12th year in 2019, features live musical acts, food and item vendors, a game and play area for children and a ropes course and information area sponsored by Rocky Mount Public Utilities.

The highlight of the event is the barbecue, chicken and pork tastings, where for a small fee, attendees can sample the food of the contest participants. The winners are awarded cash prizes and trophies throughout different categories recognized by the Kansas City Barbecue Society.

“More than $20,000 was awarded to teams in the 2018 Throw Down,” Rocky Mount Special Events Coordinator Kayla Hillman said. “Our main focus is that people of all ages can come out and have a good time. We hope that everyone will come check out what downtown Rocky Mount has to offer.”

Nash County celebrates its harvest season the first weekend each October with the Spring Hope National Pumpkin Festival. The two-day event includes a parade, local vendors, a pumpkin recipe contest, pageants and more.

The event takes place in downtown Spring Hope and will enter its 48th year in 2019.

Our main focus is that people of all ages can come out and have a good time. We hope that everyone will come check out what downtown Rocky Mount has to offer.