With the newly inaugurated Main Street of Greenville GRITS Festival only weeks away, organizers say they are &uot;really getting excited&uot; about the upcoming event.

Slated for Saturday, Oct. 30 in Confederate Park in the heart of historic Greenville, the festival will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and offer an action-packed, fun-filled day for all, Main Street Director Nancy Idland says.

'A welcome diversion'

Idland thinks the day will be a welcome diversion after the recent difficulties

experienced

by the county after the storm.

&uot;Everyone has been so stressed, after all we have been through with Hurricane Ivan – and it’s taking some time to recover from this psychologically.

I think the GRITS Festival will be a wonderful opportunity for us to come together and have a fabulous community celebration,&uot; Idland commented.

Vendors still needed

Idland does want to point out there are still spaces available for vendors.

&uot;We would love to have more vendors join us for the day to sell their wares or perhaps spotlight specific items in their stores. Since we didn’t have the fair this year, this might be a great opportunity for someone out there…so just give me a call and I will gladly send an application,&uot; she explains.

Fun for all ages

A &uot;terrific lineup of entertainment&uot; is slated for the GRITS Festival, Idland says, including the bluegrass-gospel sounds of local favorites &uot;Southern Comfort&uot;, native son and singer/songwriter Matt Shepherd, Mobile’s &uot;Imagine That&uot; and the ever-popular magic show.

One thing that will be different this year, Idland says, will be a special assortment of kids’ activities charging a small admission, including a moonwalk and rock climbing structure.

&uot;Of course, we will have our other usual fun activities, too – face painting, caricatures and craft activities for the kids,&uot; she adds.

However, the piece de resistance of the day is certain to be those delicious southern biscuits and grits for sale, Idland says.

Grits for everyone

&uot;We’ll be offering a regular smorgasbord of grits to folks…you can put onions, cheese, shrimp, whatever you want to on your grits to suit your tastes.&uot;

There will also be a grits and biscuits cookbook, which Idland says is still in the works (&uot;Contact Marianne Russell if you have a contribution to it&uot;) and unique grits games (more on those later) are also being planned.

&uot;I hope everyone will plan to come out and support our new GRITS Festival…remember, Montgomery has got the biscuits, but Greenville has got the grits!&uot; Idland says.

For more information, contact Nancy Idland at 382-3041.