A Peach of a Time in Fort Valley

FORT VALLEY, Ga. – It’s time for the Peachiest Days in Fort Valley! Fort Valley hosted the 38th Georgia Peach Festival in the Downtown portion of Fort Valley on Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1. The Peach Festival had numerous events throughout both days to honor the local peach growers and showcase the city of Fort Valley.

Both Friday and Saturday saw an abundance of festival goers strolling down West Church Street, browsing the many vendors that lined both sides of the road. Friday evening featured a Friday Kickoff Party with AJ the DJ, N*Style Express Soul, and Line Dancers.

The Peach Festival continued bright and early on Saturday morning, starting with the “Fill The Boot For Burns” Pancake Breakfast with the Fort Valley Police Department, which took place at the Fort Valley Methodist Church. 

The Peachy Parade started at 10 a.m. and featured the Georgia Peach Queens, representatives from the City of Fort Valley, the Fort Valley Utility Commission, the Peach County High School Future Farmers of America, Peach County 4H, local peach growers namely Lane Southern Orchard, the Royal Diamond Dance Team, the NoD Percussion, and more. There were also representatives promoting their platform such as U.S. Congressman Sanford D. Bishop Jr, Katrina Corbin, Robert “Buck” Shannon, and Shalanda Williams.

Once it hit 11, the Peach Festival saw a slew of fun events. At the gazebo, the Georgia Peach Queens were formally introduced; Miss Georgia Peach Charleigh Harper, Teen Miss Georgia peach Mia Loyd, Junior Miss Georgia Peach Kendall Gaines, Little Miss Georgia Peach Skye Harris, and Tiny Miss Georgia Peach, Ellie James Young. The Historical Society Chicken Salad Lunch also started at 11, and took place at the McArthur-Saxon House. Other events included the ‘Eat A Peach’ Contest, the Big Peach Chair, Dunk The Mayor, and the Central Georgia Car Scene.

The World’s Largest Peach Cobbler was ready for attendees to partake in around 2 p.m. with this year’s chef being Tip Statham. The cobbler measures around 11 feet by five feet and is roughly eight inches deep. 

Throughout Saturday, there was live music by artists including Mary Kate Farmer, RB Legend, and ConFunkShun. The evening ended with a fireworks show around 9:30 p.m.

Tisa Horton, CEO of the Georgia Peach Festival, was ecstatic with the turnout from the community, with the festival surpassing her expectations.

“My overall feelings of the Georgia Peach Festival was pure joy and excitement! Yes, it surpassed my expectations, from the parade to every moment it was a celebration!” Horton said. “I was particularly happy and proud of the turnout of people for the festival. There were people from our hometown we haven’t seen in years, people from the surrounding area and people from far away states and abroad. I was especially happy when we witnessed four generations of family members who came out to celebrate our rich heritage and experience our peachy hometown charm.”

Horton mentioned some of the difficulties the committee faced for this year’s festival.

“There are always some difficulties when planning an event of this magnitude and to me it means the festival is growing,”Horton said. “We had a high volume of calls regarding the festival and that means more exposure and visibility of our county, festival and the peach growers.”

Horton highlighted the largest between this and last year’s Peach Festivals, which is the retirement of Rich Bennett as the head chef overseeing the World’s Largest Peach Cobbler.

“The major difference from last year to this year is that Rich Bennett the Peach Cobbler head chef was not returning to cook the cobbler this year. Rich has been involved in the festival for over 16 years. In 2007, Rich was the apprentice chef and became the head Chef in 2008. We are sad to see Rich leaving because he is one of the family and we truly are going to miss him. We want to express our sincere gratitude for his many years as head chef of the World’s Largest Peach Cobbler,” Horton said.

“We give thanks to our amazing vendors, sponsors, volunteers and visitors. This year was a great experience and we are looking forward to next year, June 6-7, 2025 in Fort Valley and June 14, 2025 in Byron. It’s Easy Bein’ Peachy!” Horton said.

The Peach Festival will resume in Byron at North Peach Park next Saturday, June 8, from noon to 8 p.m.

For more information about the festival, information can be found on their website or by phone at (478) 825-4002.