From dashing ducks to racing beds, there’s fun for the whole family

With spring in full swing, the opening weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival will provide many free and inexpensive options for the entire family. From watching the parade and bed race to touring downtown historic districts, the festival has something to entertain all ages.

Cherry Blossom Open Air Market

Head to 543 Plum Street on March 25 for a new event, the Open Air Market. There will be about 60 vendors and four food trucks, along with face painting. It is free to attend and is family- and dog-friendly.

Tyler Burch, planning representative for the market, said, “Our mission is to bring people downtown and to change the atmosphere of downtown so that Saturdays and Sundays people are walking downtown and enjoying the area.”

Ocmulgee Duck Dash

According to Dianna Glymph, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters, this is the second year for the Dash, which happens at 11 a.m. March 25 and is a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters and Crisis Line & Safe House.

The race will start at Amerson River Park’s Porter Pavilion with the purchased multicolored ducks being dumped into the Ocmulgee River. The first duck to float to the finish line will win $1,000, second place wins $100 and third wins $50.

“For $5 a duck, it is still a pretty good deal,” said Glymph. “You do not have to be present to win.”

Food vendors, face painting and child ID kits also will be available. Ducks can be purchased at duckdash2.myevent.com or from 10-11 a.m. before the event.

Cotton Avenue Revival

The Cotton Avenue Revival, happening March 25-26, is a “free public celebration of the legacy and revitalization of downtown Macon’s illustrious black business district” in an effort to “draw awareness to the district’s historical significance and its rich assets,” according to a news release from Emily Hopkins with Historic Macon Foundation.

She wrote that the Cotton Avenue Coalition, which hosts the event, is working to designate Cotton Avenue as a local historic district in an effort to preserve the buildings in that vicinity.

Musicians from a variety of genres will be performing beginning at noon March 25 on a stage set up between Spring and New streets, and guided walking history tours will be held from 2-4 p.m. Open house tours also will be offered by four historic downtown churches.

Cherry Blossom Bed Race

An annual festival favorite sure to draw large crowds, the Bed Race will take place from 1-2 p.m. March 25 at Cherry and Third streets. According to Cherry Blossom Festival Board Chair Stacy Ingram, this event will consist of teams of five people — with four people pushing the bed and one person steering it — racing as fast as they can down the street. The race will be on Cherry Street from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Third Street. Trophies will be awarded to winners.

Cherry Blossom Parade

No Cherry Blossom Festival experience would be complete without attending the parade at 4 p.m. March 26 in downtown. The parade will begin at Cherry and Third streets and will end at Mulberry and Third streets.

Fantastic floats, marching bands, military units, costumed performers and international dignitaries will “transform an already beautiful historic downtown into a dazzling showpiece,” according to the festival’s website. The site also says that more than 1,000 people with approximately 150 different units will participate in the parade. Also, don’t miss the F-15 flyover from Robins Air Force Base!

This story was originally published March 22, 2017 at 7:06 AM with the headline "From dashing ducks to racing beds, there’s fun for the whole family."