CABOT — Community pride can be displayed in a variety of ways. Citizens support local businesses, fans rally around the hometown team for Friday-night football, and crowds attend annual festivals and events.
In Cabot, one of those events is entering its 38th year. CabotFest — which was started after a tragic situation — has now grown to a major event, said Amy Williams, Cabot Chamber of Commerce executive director.
“In 1975, there was a tornado that destroyed downtown Cabot,” she said. “They built it back, and CabotFest was formed in 1978. The festival’s theme back then was ‘Cabot — we’re back.’ In the past 38 years, [the event has] grown to what it is now.”
This year’s event — which will take place primarily in downtown Cabot on Thursday through Saturday — has a few new additions that organizers said they hope will please the crowds.
“I feel like we’ve got better entertainment this year,” Williams said. “We have a meet-and-greet with Annie and the cast from Annie, and a few Disney characters. We also have a magician this year.”
CabotFest will start with a carnival from 6-10 p.m. Thursday, and the carnival will continue from 5-11 p.m. Friday.
Most of the events will take place Saturday. The Cabot Lions Club’s annual Pancake Breakfast will take place from 6-10 a.m. at First Baptist Church, 204 N. Third St., and the FSM5K — which benefits the Faith Support Ministry at Faith Baptist Church — will begin at 9 a.m. Then at the Cabot Freshman Academy, the CabotFest Pageant will start at 10 a.m.
The downtown entertainment will begin with an opening ceremony at 8:30 a.m. and will continue throughout the day with local dance, gymnastics and theater companies performing. The headlining group, Ricochet, will perform on the main stage from 4:30-6 p.m.
In addition to the entertainment, there will be activities such as Build-A-Pal custom stuffed animals, mobile pet adoption, vendor booths, food vendors and a car show. The cricket-spitting contest — which is exactly what it sounds like — will begin at 5 p.m.
Williams said it takes a lot of work to organize and hold CabotFest every year, but it’s worth it to keep the community tradition alive.
“It’s a lot of work. We start working on it in March,” she said. “It’s a community effort. We at the chamber do a lot of work, but we have a lot of helpers.”
Admission to CabotFest is free, and tickets for the carnival can be purchased at the Cabot Chamber of Commerce Office, 110 S. First St.
To register for the FSM5K, visit fsm5k.racesonline.com. For more information on the CabotFest Pageant, contact Stacy Munford at cabotfestpageant@yahoo.com.
For more information on CabotFest, including a full schedule of entertainment and food vendors, visit the Cabot Chamber of Commerce Facebook page or the CabotFest Facebook page.