If eating a candy apple while watching a 700-pound grizzly bear and/or smelling flowers and buying fancy crafts seem fun, be in Cobb County the last weekend of April.
The 2018 Smyrna Spring Jonquil Festival will feature 175 booths of arts and crafts for sale, 15 food setups and many activities April 28 and 29 at The Village Green, according to a news release.
No matter how long you've lived in Cobb, you may not know why this yellow flower demands a massive free festival. You can find out here.
If you were looking to drool, here’s a sample of what’ll be available to eat: cotton candy, candy apples, corn dogs, hand-dipped ice cream, snow cones, Polish sausage, chicken sandwiches and barbecue.
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And if you actually want to walk out of there at a caloric loss, consider The Jonquil Jog, a 5K run/walk that will take place both days starting at the city’s municipal building next to Village Green.
Registration is free and can be done online. Check out the race schedule and details on the city's website.
If you’d rather watch people do stuff, there’s plenty of that.
New this year is "A Grizzly Experience," which showcases Alaska grizzly bears brought from Naples, Florida. (Maybe they were tired of the cold?)
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There will be a 13-year-old, 700-pound bear named “Tonk” and two juvenile bears named “Yogi” and “Maggie” at the Jonquil Festival.
If you like nature but not apex predators, “Wildlife Wendy” will be an interactive bird show.
There will also be “Lady Houdini” — it isn’t clear why she didn’t name herself “Harriet Houdini” — performing jaw-tightening water escapes.
Children and adults can also expect this: “Robocars are unique and fun brightly colored, life-size, transforming robot vehicles currently featuring cars, trucks, motorcycles and tractors. Operator driven, they walk and drive creating endless excitement and photo opportunities for the whole family.”
Hopefully they’re this cool:
Scott Thompson of the bluegrass band Peachtree Station will also be performing, the news release said, “all the songs you know and love” (a tall order) on the Veteran’s Memorial grand lawn adjacent to the Spring Jonquil Food Court. Bring a blanket.
For children, there will also be inflatable activities and sand art.
The festival will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
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