• For complete details on all N.C. Watermelon Festival activities, be sure to look inside Thursday’s newspaper for the 32-page special section.
By FULLER ROYAL
When temperatures remain in the high 90s for weeks on end, Columbus residents know it’s time for the annual North Carolina Watermelon Festival with its parade, watermelon beauties vying for crowns and more watermelons than anyone can eat.
Festival organizers anticipate several thousand guests will make their way to Fair Bluff when the 2006 version of the festival begins this week with the Southern Watermelon Delight on Friday, July 28 at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $20 per person for the event, which will be held in the Fair Bluff National Guard Armory.
Earlier on Friday, at 4 p.m., the invitation-only Melon Belle Ceremony and Tea will be held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Chris Scott.
On Saturday, the festival goes into overdrive with dozens of events planned in downtown Fair Bluff along its main street and the riverfront.
From 7 a.m. until 4 p.m., a food court will be set up near the Lumber River, featuring among other items, sausage dogs.
From 7 until 10 a.m., entries into the various watermelon contests can be made behind the Fair Bluff Senior Center on Riverside Drive.
From 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. arts and crafts booths will be set up along the downtown streets, ready for visitors looking for unusual crafts to take back home.
Also starting at 9 a.m. is the variety show on the Riverside Drive stage. It runs until 11:30 a.m.
At 10 a.m. the watermelon judging contest begins with participants looking to win categories of things watermelon related – from best-tasting to biggest.
At 11 a.m., the invitation-only Seventh Annual Watermelon Luncheon and Auction will be held in the Fair Bluff Senior Center.
At 1:45 p.m., the North Carolina Watermelon Festival Parade starts, beginning at Fair Bluff Elementary, turning down N.C. 904 West and then onto U.S. 76 West through Main Street. It then turns left at the Legion Hut and returns to Fair Bluff Elementary.
At 3 p.m., visitors are invited to the watermelon seed-spitting and legs contests on the Riverside Stage.
At 7 p.m., in the armory, contestants will strut their stuff for the North Carolina Watermelon Festival Pageant.
On Sunday, the last event of the weekend – the N.C. Watermelon Festival’s Little Pageant and Talent Show, begins at 3 p.m. in the armory.
Fair Bluff Mayor Randy Britt encourages Columbus residents to attend the festival and visit Fair Bluff and its many attractions, including the town’s river walk and the depot museum.
