Georgia Peach Festival kicks off this weekend with 55-square-foot peach cobbler

Middle Georgia will celebrate the 37th Annual Georgia Peach Festival, starting on Friday in Fort Valley.

The festivities will stretch until 10 p.m. Friday and pick back up at 7 a.m. Saturday, starting with a pancake breakfast put on by first responders in the Fort Valley area. The cost for admission to that event is $5 and will be held at Fort Valley Methodist Church.

Various vendors and activities for the family are available throughout the festival and options to eat at the event will be plentiful.

The World’s Largest Peach Cobbler will be baked on Saturday, and will be available for free to anyone at the festival starting at 2 p.m. The final cobbler will measure 11 feet by five feet, and is roughly eight inches deep. According to the Peach County website, the cobbler has been served since 1986, and the baking is traditionally headed by a county commissioner starting at 4 a.m. Saturday morning.

Since 2008, the head chef has been Information Systems Manager Rich Bennett.

In the evening, there will be concerts from local musicians like the Essence Band and John Mark Graves, as well as headliner CeCe Peniston. Peniston has recorded a couple songs that have reached the Billboard Top-15 list, including “Finally” and “Keep on Walkin.’”

On June 10, the Georgia Peach Festival will continue in Byron starting at noon in North Peach Park. Beginning at 5 p.m., there will be live entertainment from Paul Carreker, followed by the 2022 Georgia Country Female Artist of the Year Mary Kate Farmer.

Following the headliner show by the Tobacco Rd Band, there will be a fireworks show starting at 9 p.m.