WOODSTOCK, Ga. - It was billed as a rain festival to fight Georgia's drought, and even included a rain dance, but turnout was slim and precipitation was even scarcer than people.
"Not much of a turnout," landscaper Linda Boyer said Saturday, squinting against bright sunshine under a cloudless sky and scanning the nearly empty parking lot sprinkled with several tables of water-related activities and volunteers.
Competition was part of the problem. "There's a lot of festivals going on elsewhere - the Ellijay Apple Festival, the pumpkin patches, haunted houses, Cagle Dairy's Corn Maize Festival ...," Boyer said.
Cherokee County Water Authority employees handed out pamphlets and water-saving shower heads. Recycled water gurgled in a wishing well set up in the parking lot outside the Woodstock Art Center.
A local teen dance troupe appeared to perform in the tradition of Native American rain dances - but drew an audience of less than a dozen.
"Bottom line, when it's not raining, everybody prays to the Big Guy regardless of culture," said Kendra Cosner, who called herself "company mom" for the teen performers from Dancentre South.
Boyer said the event was a last-minute decision and was organized in just 10 days.