This story originally appeared in the Oct. 13 issue of the Community Voice. For your own subscription, call 270-384-9454
The 2022 version of Downtown Days is now part of history, and it may have been the best one ever.
“It was the best crowd,” said Jada Atwood, a member of the Renaissance Columbia committee. “Overall, I am pretty sure it was the best crowd we’ve ever had from start to finish. I don’t know exactly how many people came, and I would hate to guess. We had different things bringing people in at different times of the day, so I think between Friday and Saturday our overall crowd was absolutely the biggest.”
Atwood said vendors had good things to say about last weekend, emphasizing the number of people who attended. Last year, almost 80 vendors secured spots. This year’s total was higher, Atwood said.
“The vendors increased this year,” she said. “Columbia Baptist Church did a lot this year for the festival with the cornhole tournament, the pancake breakfast, and the dog parade. We really appreciate that.”
New events are always key in drawing crowds to the festival, and Atwood thought the mullet pageant probably earned the most attention. This year’s musical entertainment also brought in fans.
“The mullet pageant was a hit; the concerts were great,” Atwood said. “People loved Doug Stone and McBride and the Ride. We heard a lot of good compliments about No Deceit and County Wide. It makes us feel better to get the music taken care of early, and we’ve already started working on that for next year.”
Atwood said Renaissance Columbia will be meeting within the next few weeks to begin planning the 2023 festival.
“As soon as we’re done with the festival, we usually give it about a week or two, and then we meet,” she said. “That meeting is mainly to go over things we didn’t like, things we might want to do different.”
Atwood said the committee is always looking for new ideas and encourages members of the community to get involved. Call 270-384- 2501 and ask for Atwood.
