By Morgan Bryce
Associate Editor
Keep Opelika Beautiful’s 13th annual “Garden in the Park” event is slated for May 5 at Municipal Park.
Known locally as “Opelika’s premiere arts and crafts festival,” this year’s version of Garden in the Park will feature even more attractions and vendors offering homegrown/handmade goods for visitors, according to KOB Director Tipi Miller.
During the family-friendly event, there will be activities for children including Farmer Brown’s Petting Zoo, rides on the Rocky Brook Rocket, moonwalks, demonstrations on how to make bird feeders and homemade water cycles, as well as performances by students from Make Your Move Dance Studio and Opelika City Schools at the park’s main stage area.
More than 4,000 people attended last year’s event, statistics that Miller attributes to its free admission, wide array of entertainment and location.
“It seems like every town has their own arts and crafts show, but Opelika has several advantages, including no charge to get in and our park where we hold the event. People love to come because it’s shady and cool enough where the kids can play in the creek, (and there’s) so many different play structures at the park … it’s just a really neat place and the perfect setup for any event,” Miller said. “I also think a lot of people just enjoy coming to Opelika … we’ve had a lot of people say they come and stay for the weekend, and go downtown and eat at some of the restaurants down there on Friday night, and Saturday morning, go shop at Tiger Town and then come to the event.”
Food donations for the Food Bank of East Alabama will be accepted during the event. Miller asks that visitors refrain from bringing pets to the park to prevent additional noise and disturbance of animals in the petting zoo.
In case of rain, Garden in the Park will still be held from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. For more information, visit www.keepopelikabeautiful.com. Municipal Park is located across from the Denson Drive Recreation Center on Denson Drive.