For nearly 70 years, patrons have annually anticipated and enjoyed Washington County’s historic Kaolin Festival.
In 2024, parade and event-goers will be forced to wait a little longer to partake in the festival fun.
Following the cataclysmic effects still being felt community-wide stemming from Hurricane Helene late last month, the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and Kaolin Festival Committee have opted to postpone the affair to Saturday, November 16.
According to Chamber of Commerce President Katie Moncus, despite how crucial the days leading into the Kaolin Festival are to making final preparations, the Chamber and its partners have recently turned their attention instead to assisting a reeling community.
“As we all know, our county and many others were hit very hard by Hurricane Helene. The Chamber, along with city and county officials, and many volunteers have been focusing the past two weeks on post-hurricane recovery efforts to manage multiple donation and community food drive efforts.”
As Washington County continues to heal and the light at the end of the tunnel begins to emerge, President Moncus stated that this week shared attention began to focus back on the impending event.
“We are thankful for all of the calls and emails that we have received concerning the Kaolin Festival because that lets us know that each of you are passionate about this occasion and our community. We have taken so many factors into consideration, and in conjunction with local leaders, have decided to officially postpone the 2024 Kaolin Festival until Saturday, November 16.”
The Chamber of Commerce President says that a postponement of the event serves in the collective best interest of all involved with the Festival.
“We feel that this is the best decision for the community – to make sure our local businesses, vendors, parade participants, and everyone involved has the opportunity to take care of their own hurricane recoveries and have time to prepare for the festival. We understand that this may be a disappointment to some but we hope that you will understand that we did not make this decision lightly and attempted to keep everyone’s best interest in mind.”
With the exception of the kaolin mine tours being cancelled, all previous day-of-event Kaolin Festival plans and activities remain unchanged outside of the new date.
Parade participants, vendor applicants, or event attendees with questions may contact the Washington County Chamber of Commerce at 478-552-3288.
In recent years, the festival theme has highlighted the memories of a past decade. Last year, local citizens celebrated the 1990’s.
Earlier this year, the Kaolin Festival Committee released their 2024 theme – “We Dig the 2000’s: Kaolin Proud.”
The latest installment of the annual Washington County event will celebrate and thank local law enforcement and first responders – now even more fitting following the event’s of the past two weeks.
Honored as Grand Marshals, leading off the morning’s parade, will be a deserving cast of local heroes – many of whom have dedicated lifetimes of service to our local communities. The lineup includes each Police Chief, Fire Chief, Emergency Agency Director, and Sheriff in Washington County.
Like last year and despite the postponement, the 2024 Kaolin Festival will be a one-day event with excitement unfolding all day in Downtown Sandersville on the Courthouse Square.
The Kaolin Parade will again run up Highway 15 from the Washington County High School to the historic Sandersville School, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
In a return to its original roots, the 2024 Festival will be held in November, as was the inaugural Kaolin-themed event in 1956.
