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Glennville Sweet Onion Festival returns to downtown Barnard Street this Sat., May 11
Second Chance Band featured from 9 p.m. to midnight
Large crowd from Glennville Sweet Onion Festival 2023
Large crowd from Glennville Sweet Onion Festival 2023

For the fourth consecutive year, the Glennville Sweet Onion Festival, Glennville’s biggest annual event, will be held on downtown Barnard Street in Glennville this Saturday, May 11, 2024.

No gate entrance fee will be charged. This allows the entire family to come and enjoy the festivities while shopping the many craft vendors and taking sustenance throughout the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. festival day at the many diverse and delicious food booths.

The day begins with a 1-mile run at 7:30 a.m. and a 3.1-mile run following at 8 a.m.; festival vendors opening at 9 a.m.; parade at 10 a.m. that begins from South Tattnall Middle School, traveling down Barnard Street, and turning left onto Hwy. 301 S., ending at the corner of Banks Street and Hwy. 301 S.; a brief program featuring Parade Grand Marshal Dr. Troy Rahn; entertainment beginning at 12:30 p.m. at the Stage at Barnard; World Championship Turtle Races at 2 p.m. near the stage; and the festival ending at 5 p.m.

However, at 9 p.m., come back to the Stage at Barnard where the Second Chance Band will be bringing their beach and soul music until 12 midnight No admission fee will be charged, but donations will be accepted.

During the day, visit the many craft vendors and food booths, who can satisfy your taste buds for any food item from salty to sweet, and everything in between (of course, including fried sweet onion rings and blooming onions). Children's activities can keep the young ones happy, jumping on the inflatables.

Reigning over the festivities will be Jena Hales, the newly crowned Miss Georgia Sweet Onion.

Food booths will be located in the grassed area next to the Glennwanis Hotel, with these spaces 10 feet x 10 feet. Make sure you come hungry, with a wide variety of food available.

Craft vendors will be lined in the parking spaces, 10 feet x 10 feet, on Barnard Street, from Hwy. 301 to Tillman Street. Please note that additional craft vendors will be in the parking lot area behind the stage and next to Gross Street. The selection is quite diverse in items for sale, and you can surely find something for a graduate, for mom for Mother's Day (May 12), or for dad (for Father's Day).

Behind the food booths will be the children's activities, which will include an array of inflatables, and a new exciting mechanical bull, which adults may want to tackle as well.

The parade down Barnard Street will feature Parade Marshal Dr. Troy Rahn, who retired in 2023 after serving Glennville as a dentist and in many other capacities, and several dozen entries. Those entertaining Shriners will be among them, including Tattnall's own dedicated group of Shriners.

This year, for the fourth year, Glennville Bank is sponsoring the Largest Onion Contest, and you will want to see the winning entries and hear the names of the winners at the 12-noon brief program, with the Onion Festival Scholarship recipients announced along with the Onion Run winners.

Metal bleachers will be provided for seating, but you can also bring a lawn chair.

The World Champion Turtle Races (WCTR), sponsored by First Christian Church of Glennville, are always a big hit with everyone, and these will again be near the stage area this year. Make sure you pick up a turtle for your child for this event, usually easily found on the side of the road or near a pond. The WCTR will be at 2 p.m.

Remember, no general admission will be charged to visit the festival, but children's activities will have various charges.

For more information, the festival committee is as follows:

  • Festival Chairpersons: Kim Craft, Glennville Chamber of Commerce Director, (912) 654-1616, (912) 237-5386, or email at director@glennillechamber.org; and Wayne Dasher, (912) 213-3331.
  • Parade: Anchor Pointe Church Mission Team. Contact is Paula Held, 912-492-1537. Register entries on website of glennvillesweetonion.com
  • Arts and Crafts and Food Booths/Children's activities: Kim Craft.
  • Entertainment: Anita Dasher at (912) 237-3030, email at anitadasher@yahoo.com
  • Street Dance: Russell Terry Waters at 912-320-3235 or 912-237-0248, email of russelltwaters@gmail.com.
  • Onion Runs: Dr. Paul Thompson, email of pthomp15209@yahoo.com.
  • Miss Georgia Sweet Onion Pageant: Anita Dasher, (912) 237-3030.
  • Festival website: glennvillesweetonion.com

For the safety of small children who will be in attendance at the festival, golf carts and other motorized vehicles will not be allowed within the Festival area on Barnard Street from Hwy. 301 S. to Tillman Street, except for those in the 10 a.m. parade as an entry. This also includes the area behind the Glennwanis Hotel to behind Green Tea Chinese Restaurant. The area on Barnard Street from Hwy. 301 to Tillman Street is closed to any thru traffic from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, except for vendors unloading their items to their booths, which are to be completely unloaded before 7:15 a.m.

Sales of Vidalia sweet onions will be available from the Bland Farms trailer parked on South Caswell Street next to the Green Tea Chinese Restaurant. Proceeds will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Parking areas for Onion Festival visitors

Parking is plentiful, and please note these available locations. Those areas that can be utilized by visitors to the festival include the parking area of Glennville Funeral Home, First Baptist Church, Brannen Family Funeral Services, behind the Glennville Garden Club Center on N. Caswell Street, Glennville Methodist Church parking lot across from the church, area behind The Journal Sentinel office, paved area behind the Glennville City Auditorium, behind City Hall, behind Cadence Bank, and Restoration Pointe Church of God parking lot on Institute Street, and along some of the side streets near the downtown area. (Please do not park in the Subway parking lot since this is reserved for law enforcement personnel/EMS.)

Please note that the Glennville Bank parking area is for craft vendors ONLY, and food vendors will have a paved area to park behind Strickland's Pharmacy, designated just for food vendors. Vendors cannot leave this Glennville Bank parking area until 5 p.m., after the festival has ended. The grassed area behind the food booths is reserved for children's inflatables, petting zoo, and bungee jump, and any other children's activities, so please do not park in this area. When parking, please be careful not to block other vehicles in so that they cannot be removed.