By Sarrah Peters, News Editor
Hokes Bluff will host its annual Hokes Bluff City Fest on Saturday, October 1 from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. The festival will be held at Hokes Bluff City Park, located at 3301 Alford Bend Road in Hokes Bluff. Best of all, the festival is free to the public.
The day-long festival is packed with entertainment for everybody. Every type of festival food will be available from vendors.
There will be pizza, barbeque, burgers, hot dogs, corn dogs, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, nachos, boiled peanuts, popcorn, kettle corn, slushies, ice cream, snow cones, cotton candy, lemonade, popsicles, fried oreos and snickers and more. There will be vendors selling crafts and goods of all sorts. It provides a great opportunity to start the Christmas shopping.
For the kids, there will be free carnival rides in the “Kids Zone,” a cyclone swing, slides, and more. Modern Woodmen will be offering free face painting.
Musical entertainment will begin at 3 p.m. and last until 8:30 p.m. Courtney Linam will kick things off at 3 p.m. with her sultry singing style. Linam plays with band members James Higgins and Craig Lett. At 4 p.m., Dust 2 Diamonds will take the stage. The duo plays country music.
At 5 p.m., local favorites the Sweet Tea Trio will play. Sweet Tea Trio consists of Victoria Camp, 18, Savannah Coker, 18 and Kate Falcon, 16. Southside native Falcon is well-known around Etowah County, as she has performed at many local events. The trio was recently named Alabama’s 2016 Female Country Artist of the Year.
At 6 p.m., Whiskey Dixie will play. The members of the Calhoun, Ga. rock group include Hunter Blalock, Jacob Parker, Warren Nichols, Collin Parker and Taylor Locklear. The band describes its music style as southern soul rock, finding influences in rock and roll, blues, roots and soul music.
The headliner, Joe Diffie, will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Diffie is a multi-platinum-selling country music artist. He is best known for his music in the 90s including “Home,” “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets),” “Ships That Don’t Come In” and “John Deere Green.”
Diffie has had 35 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, including five number one singles. In addition to his own music, Diffie has cowritten songs with other country music legends, including Tim McGraw and Jo Dee Messina.
Diffie is a Grammy and Academy of Country Music award-winner. He is a member of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry for over 20 years.
The City of Hokes Bluff invites everyone to come out and have fun. The weather should be pleasant. Lawn chairs are welcome.