Cotton Pickin’ Fair, Madison Homes Tour Kick Off May Festivals

April 30th, 2015

“City Lights” travel contributor Kevin Benefield previews May festivals in Madison and Gay, Georgia.

The west Georgia hamlet of Gay — population 89 — springs to life with the arrival of May and the spring rendition of the biannual Cotton Pickin’ Fair.

Started in 1972 and featuring a wide variety of food, artisanal crafts and entertainment, the Cotton Pickin’ Fair is one of the better-known spring festivals in small-town Georgia and includes antiques and live entertainment.

“City Lights” contributor Kevin Benefield, the editor of the Southbound travel magazine, says the Gay Family Farmstead will attract more than 350 vendors Saturday and Sunday, and that food — cooked on site by Scout troops, church groups and others — is one of the biggest draws.

“We’re talking homemade biscuits, fried chicken and catfish, black-eyed peas and cornbread, apple dumplings and peach cobbler and homemade ice cream, and boiled peanuts and fried pork skins,” he said.

If that’s not enough, shoppers will find plenty of art, antiques, pottery, baskets, sculptures, folk art, jewelry, furniture and toys to choose from.

Another in-demand spring festival near Atlanta is in Madison, Georgia, about an hour’s drive off Interstate 20.

The Madison in May Spring Tour of Homes and Gardens continues through Saturday and features selected homes each day.

Spared the wrath of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman on his March to the Sea, Madison includes more than 100 homes, churches and other antebellum-era architecture in one of the largest National Register Historical District designations in Georgia.

This Friday marks the start of the Madison Chamber Music Festival, which continues each weekend through June 14. The festival’s artistic director is Christopher Rex, principal cellist at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.