People in the community go to the 18th Annual Caledonia Days

CALEDONIA, Miss. (WCBI)- Today is part two of the 18th annual Caledonia Days event.

It’s been 18 years since the first ever Caledonia Days Festival and after almost 2 decades, the event welcomes hundreds of people each year.

Vendors from Caledonia, Columbus, and surrounding areas set up booths for festivalgoers.

They are thankful for the people that support their businesses.

Jerry Hatcher, Owner of Happy Kids Pony rides says without festivals it would be hard to continue.

“It helps because these horses eat a lot. They eat a whole lot. Without festivals, it would be hard to keep going,” said Hatcher.

And vendors like Hatcher, who has attended festivals for years, say it’s taken him years to build his business.

“You have to get that done beforehand and you can’t just come to festivals and expect them to be useful to the kids you gotta do that beforehand,” said Hatcher.

Some vendors have worked for years with the public and others are still new to the game.

Amy Huckaby, owner of the Chiffarobe says after one year of business she realizes the importance of festivals.

“I think it gets our name out and we are able to get our cards out and we’ve gotten a lot more followers on Facebook and a lot of people wouldn’t be using our web store if we weren’t doing this,” said Huckaby.

Huckaby says it also gives her a chance to bond with the community

“We love coming out to festivals and just getting what we have and I love seeing the people getting out and shopping. That’s what’s fun about it. I like being here and being social after covid it’s just nice after being couped up and it’s nice to get out and be a community again,” said Huckaby.

The Festival ended at 5 today but they do plan to have this event next year.