Bostwick’s annual Cotton Gin Festival will not return this fall.
On Feb. 3, the Bostwick City Council voted to end the festival that brings thousands of people to the city each October for cotton gin tours, craft vendors, kids’ activities, food trucks, live music, and a parade of tractors and antique cars.
June Whittaker, a resident of Bostwick, started the festival in 1992 to raise money for the maintenance of the Susie Agnes Hotel.
Now, more than 30 years later, city leaders say the festival has grown too big for Bostwick to handle.
“Having the festival was wonderful for our community. We loved it, everybody did, but it has outgrown our little town, and volunteerism has tapered off considerably,” said Councilmember Angie Howard, who took over as the festival’s committee chairperson in 2001.
Howard acknowledged that the committee has also shrunk, with several older members stepping down. Among the retirees is Howard, who wants to focus on caring for her family.
“It’s bittersweet,” she said about seeing the festival and her time on the committee come to an end.
“We want to thank everybody for supporting the festival for as long as they have. We’re very blessed,” Howard shared on behalf of the committee. “We want to thank the people who supported us year after year, because without the public, or the community, or the county, we would not have been as successful as we have been.”