33rd Annual Festival
Saturday May 15, 2010
Free Parking and Shuttle
Festival parking is available at Henry County High School - 401 Tomlinson Street McDonough, GA 30253. A free shuttle will take Festival guests to and from the parking area throughout the day.
Geranium Festival Pageant
Queens for Courage sponsor the Geranium Festival Pageant. Please contact them directly for further information on this event.
Community/Business Expo Section
Don't miss this special section of the Festival! You can find great information on local non-profit organizations, churches, and businesses! Booths will feature promotional items, information/resources, door prizes, and much much more!
Festival Information
The Geranium Festival is a FREE outdoor gathering of vendors offering handmade, original arts and crafts for sale organized by the
McDonough Lions Club and held annually on the 3rd Saturday of May in the McDonough
Square. All proceeds from the Festival go to supporting local non-profit organizations as well as Lions sponsored state and national charities.
For more information on Lions Club International and the McDonough Lions Club, check out the Lionism Page.
This one-day Festival is a highlight of the Spring Season in downtown McDonough, GA that offers an exciting day of
arts, crafts, music, entertainment, food, and community. We pride ourselves on organizing a quality event for the whole family!
Annually, over 300 vendors are on hand with a wide variety of handcrafted items for sale and more than 25,000 people will attend.
Whether you are a Festival regular or this is your first time joining us, we can't wait to see you there!
Festival History
Begun in 1970 as the Henry County Chamber of Commerce Arts and Crafts show, under the leadership of the late Mr. Fred Crumbley, the first show was held
at Big Spring Park in McDonough with 17 vendors participating. The following year the show was moved to the square with 57 vendors participating. The Chamber
of Commerce continued to sponsor the festival for five or six more years until management of this successful program was offered to others.
In 1977, Mrs. Nettye Clifton, Executive Director of the Chamber, called a number of civic organizations regarding management of the show and the McDonough Lions
Club responded. They have continued and expanded this annual community event. Under the direction of the Lions Club, this arts and craft show gained a registered
trade name and became know as the Geranium Festival. It has since grown to be one of the top three one-day festivals in attendance in the state.
Mrs. Lois Carney and her late husband, Kirk of Oglevee Products, a local based nursery and the largest geranium grower in the country, lent their support by
donating hundreds of geraniums to the city for display in the square from May to September. This tradition of planting geraniums on the square continues today.
Oglevee nursery has led the city of McDonough as being known far and wide as the Geranium City.
The festival is always held on the third Saturday in May and has grown to include daylong entertainment. Local non-profit organizations, clubs, school and church
groups operate a variety of food concessions. The festival hours are from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Much of the success of the festival is credited to J.R and Musette
Coan and Pat Alexander, who managed the festival in its earlier years. Lions Club member Diane Reed managed the festival for the last ten years and made it the event we see today.
All the members of the McDonough Lions Club work diligently to make sure the festival is a success. The City of McDonough provides invaluable assistance in the planning, set up, crowd control and
clean up.