Saturday's celebration in downtown Floyd Virginia was billed as a one of a kind celebration of music, art, food, and community spirit.
Visitors enjoyed live music in the new Warren G. Lineberry Memorial Park and sampled tasty food and cold beverages under a mostly sunny sky.
They brought their children, their dogs, even a falcon. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.
High winds blew over a few of the tents and others turned into spinnakers and threatened to sail away, but bystanders helped furl them and the celebration continued with topless booths in some areas.
The Station on Locust Street was open to the public for the first time. This new commercial and living space featured apartments upstairs and artist studios and wine tasting on the main floor.
Not all studios are finished yet, but a few resourceful tenants like the Blue Ridge Art Connection and the Troika managed to set up their shops during the few hours between the departure of the last contractor on Friday and the opening on Saturday morning.
Visitor traffic was brisk almost all day and most Floyd merchants and artist groups reported good sales. It was more like a homecoming party than a business event as people met up with other folks that they had not seen for months.
In addition to local craftsmen like Tom Phelps, there were local writer/publishers like Ron Campbell and Fred First with new products to display.
An ongoing musical performance by Tina Liza Jones and Eric Root in the Floyd Artist Association's booth attracted visiting performers and a clogger. This constantly changing presentation was a big hit with visitors and their children.
During the afternoon, visitors were also treated to a short childrens parade led by a girl on a unicycle followed by two bellydancers and a troupe of young children in facepaint and some teenagers in goth regalia and tattoos. This procession wound it way through the booths and down the street before I could get a picture of them.
Floyd's nine foot tall fairy (Alina Ever) was granting wishes to Jubilee visitors. I had to admire how she dealt with the heavy wind gusts that buffeted the town center when she was out and about. When the tents were blowing over, she simply tacked against the wind instead of disappearing over the adjacent rooftops in a whirl of blue fabric.
There was a continually changing audience enjoying the performers on the Turman Log Homes bandstand in the Lineberry Memorial Park. Jane Cundiff sent us an image of spectators and dancers that perfectly captured the mood of this jubilee.
Congratulations to all who planned this event and to the many volunteers who worked so hard to make it a success! It was an historic moment and should become an annual celebration.