Cherry Blossom Festival announces fall events

The Cherry Blossom Festival will hold a series of events this fall, in addition to its regular springtime activities. The festival also has created its own endowment fund, which will be managed by the Community Foundation of Central Georgia.

Jake Ferro, president and CEO of the festival, said Monday that the fall events will serve to augment the springtime festival.

“The main event in the spring is still critical for us,” he said. “It’s the highlight and the hallmark of the spirit of the festival because that’s when the blossoms do their blooming.”

However, the festival has been hit with rain for the past few years, curtailing a number of outdoor events and costing the festival money, Ferro said.

So Cherry Blossom officials got together to find ways to raise additional funds, which led to the fall events and the endowment fund, he said.

The first fall event will take place Sept. 20 at Washington Park, called #PraiseFest. It’s a free outdoor concert featuring local church groups and headlined by Grammy-nominated Bishop William Murphy and Stellar Award winner Isaac Carree. It will start at 4 p.m. Attendees are asked to bring a can of food to donate to the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank.

The next event will be Spirits in the Courtyard, which will be held Oct. 23 at The Blacksmith Shop from 6-9 p.m. It’s a fundraising event with food, drinks and a live and silent auction. The festival’s Art Reception, typically held every August, also will be part of the event. There are only 400 tickets, and guests will have a chance to win a custom-designed pink golf cart and trailer. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation.

The festival also will host a Battle of the Bands on Nov. 2 at Henderson Stadium in Macon, beginning at 3 p.m. Marching bands from various midstate schools will compete, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the participating schools.

“This will help build up our nest egg,” Ferro said. “We’ll be able to hold bigger events in the future. I believe we can make a little money. We need the cash flow prior to the festival.”

For more information about tickets to the fall events and the endowment fund, visit www.cherryblossom.com.

To contact writer Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334.

This story was originally published September 8, 2014 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Cherry Blossom Festival announces fall events ."