It’s no secret Lake Martin and the River Region has all kinds of festivals throughout the year. With such vibrant areas, it can be hard not to celebrate the arts, music, eats and more.
One of the festivals coming up is Sounds and Sirens. This is a music festival in downtown Tallassee with proceeds going toward local fire departments. The festival will be this Saturday starting at 5:30 p.m. with performances by Blaine Rudd, PlayNice, Sweet Young'Uns and hosted by Dr. Sam.
Next up will be the Lake Martin Songwriters Festival. This is a four-day festival with 30 artists and 15 venues around the Lake Martin area. Nearly all the events are free thanks to the festival’s sponsors. There is one ticketed special concert on July 26 at the Lake Martin Amp with artists Charlie Argo, Adam Hood and headliner Drake White.
“This is going to be the best Lake Martin Songwriters Festival ever,” board member Vivian Autry said. “We are now in the big leagues, but still having lots of free music all over the Lake Martin area so everyone can enjoy.”
This fifth annual songwriters festival will be July 24 through 27. The festival also has other free special concerts such as the 20 and under competition as well as Local’s Stage. Regular updates and announcements can be found on its Facebook page.
While we are still deep in summer months, it will become fall before we even know it and this area has all kinds of festivals. If you wanted to, you could likely find at least one every weekend, but here’s a few to get you started.
Each year both Wetumpka and Alexander City host their Oktoberfest. The Wetumpka Oktoberfest is downtown and will be held Sept. 26 and 27. Meanwhile, the Alexander City Oktoberfest will be at the Sportplex and typically occurs the second weekend of October.
Over in Dadeville, the first weekend of October is always the Fall Festival. This is one of the biggest town events of the year. Then, Eclectic, keeping with its roots, will have its Cotton Festival. This festival takes up just about all of the town, and this year will be held Oct. 11.
And don’t worry, there’s plenty to do during the winter months too. Outside of each town’s Christmas parade, one of the bigger festivals is Wetumpka’s Downtown Dickens Christmas and Christmas on the Coosa.
“We are becoming a Christmas destination for many,” Wetumpka Area Chamber of Commerce director Shellie Whitfield said in a previous article. “Word is getting out about this special event. We turn the beautiful downtown into an old time Christmas village similar to a setting described in many Charles Dickens’ novels.”
While the springtime is busy with smaller art markets and plenty of school events, the area comes back with another festival at the start of June — Alexander City’s Sun Festival. The festival is roughly a week with things for kids, families and young adults to enjoy.
There’s always something for everyone with its variety of events. This year’s festival is just about wrapping up, but don’t forget to stop by the Jazz Fest as part of Sun Festival’s grand finale. Jazz Fest is this Friday and Saturday.
