Spring is all about the new, from putting yourself out there and trying new things to going to different places and having new experiences. If you want to experience something completely new this spring, drive about three hours south of Atlanta to Vidalia, Georgia, and experience their unique yearly tradition.
The Vidalia Onion Festival celebrates the town’s homegrown sweet onions with live music, vendors, presentations and many more events. Over the festival’s four days, the town of Vidalia comes together for a one-of-a-kind experience open to outsiders just as much as locals.
“It’s a nice boon for a small community,” said Alexa Burton, executive director of the festival, during last year’s festival, who told 13WMAZ that she had met people who visited the festival from states like California, Pennsylvania and Alabama. “We draw visitors from a lot of places.”
According to Burton, a couple thousand people last year traveled to experience the festival.
The official state vegetable of Georgia, Vidalia onions are known for their natural sweetness, while still having a distinct onion flavor. According to Southern Living, the onions owe their unique flavor for the region’s particular soil.
Vidalia onions experience their peak growing season from April to Labor Day, making the spring festival perfect for celebrating.
The town first began celebrating the Vidalia Onion Festival in 1977, mostly as a way to solidify the brand of the onions nationally. The festival and the onions still live on today over 50 years later.
“There’s nothing like it. You go downtown today and downtown’s packed with folks eating onion rings, going to vendors,” Vidalia Mayor Doug Roper told 13WMAZ during last year’s festival, saying he was happy to see people “just having a blast.”
For this year’s festival, much of the anticipation is centered around this year’s concerts, with eight artists on the lineup to perform during the weekend. Famed country artist Clint Black is headlining the festival, and other country artists like Will Moseley, Ernest and Lauren Watkins will have performances sprinkled across the weekend. The performances at this year’s festival promise to balance out the old world of country music with the new.
Another celebrated annual festival tradition is a Blue Angels Air Show, and the whole family will enjoy watching those bright blue navy jets speed through the sky.
The festival also includes multiple opportunities for you to get outside and get active, particularly with the three runs they have planned: a half marathon, a 5k run and a one mile Fun Run.
If your main draw to the festival are the actual onions, there is still a lot for you to do. An onion recipe contest is taking place during the festival, complete with a public tasting for everyone to try.
An onion cooking demonstration is also slated to take place, during which two-time cookbook author Vera Stewart will lead a group through the cooking of a signature onion-based recipe.
Vendors will also be spread throughout the festival with more onion dishes than you can imagine ready for you to try. If onions aren’t your favorite, many non-onion foods are still available.
The festival promotes a fun, laid-back vibe but there are still many items not allowed onto the grounds. Coolers, as well as any outside containers or outside food or drink are prohibited from the festival. Vehicles of any kind are not allowed, and neither are pets. Lastly, visitors cannot bring in any large umbrellas or tents.
“I get to see friends and people that I haven’t seen in a long time because they’re all coming together for this,” one 2024 festival visitor told 13WMAZ. “It’s good to catch up with people and meet new people.”
The Vidalia Onion Festival will take place from April 24-27 in Vidalia. The festival is free, however, individual concert tickets start at $40, with many of the other festival events having additional costs. Tickets are for sale here.
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