Whether you’re into fantastic food, fabulous finds or familiar faces, the McDonough Square just might have what you’re looking for this weekend.

  Approximately 25,000 people are expected to pack the streets Saturday for the 42nd annual Geranium Festival, scheduled from 9 a.m., to 5 p.m.

  Visitors at the arts and crafts festival will be able to purchase items from scores of artisans showcasing jewelry, wood crafts, clothing and accessories. More than 40 food vendors are slated to participate, along with local businesses, churches and civic groups. The festival will also feature a Kids Zone with bounce-houses, face-painting and other children’s activities.

  Admission and parking are free for the festival.

  Raye Reed is the head of the Geranium Festival committee for the McDonough Lions Club, which sponsors the event. She said the festival draws crowds from all over the southeast, and is a popular destination at this time of year.

  Reed said there is “no shortage of vendors” at the Geranium Festival this year. Such participation, she said, is a testament to the festival’s popularity among those with items to sell.

  “The festival is usually full by the middle of February,” she said. “There are vendors that tell me they heard about the festival from another vendor and decided to apply.”

  Tim Parrott and his wife, Elaine, have been making bird houses, wooden signs and flags for the last two decades. They will bring their items to sell at the festival, just as they have done for the last several years.

    Parrott said such creations are always a hit with people at the Geranium Festival.

  “You have a real good crowd down there, and they like handpainted stuff,” he said.

  Parrott and his wife participate as vendors in about seven or eight different festivals every year. He said he always enjoys introducing their items to a new audience.

  “Everybody’s nice, and they like to see the detail in what you do,” said Parrott. “We’re also cheaper than other vendors, so that’s why we get a lot of repeat customers. We just enjoy coming.”

  Among the first-time artisan vendors this weekend is Kay’s Off Her Gourd, based in Augusta. Owner Kay Lovingood will have bowls, vases, figurines and related items, which she makes from hard-shell gourds.

  Lovingood has created art from gourds for eight years. She said she heard about the Geranium Festival from a friend who has participated as a vendor in past years, and came back with glowing reviews.

  Lovingood said the event will help to educate people on different ways that gourds can be used as art.

  “I like talking about my art, I like watching people be amazed at how pretty a gourd can end up,” said Lovingood. “A lot of people think it’s ceramic. A lot of gourd artists make birdhouses and cute little figurines. I strive for the fine art. I carve things that would be in a gallery more than things that would be on a kitchen shelf.”

  Reed added that she is looking forward to welcoming a new vendor, H20 To Go owner Stew Ussery, to keep people cool while they enjoy the festival.

  “He’s bringing in water, and he’s going to have three stations,” said Reed. “People can go to his stations and refill their water bottles.”

Reed said Ussery contacted festival organizers to ensure people’s well-being during the event and to protect the environment.

  “His goal is to reduce the number of empty bottles that end up being recycled or thrown in the trash,” said Reed.

  Ussery, of McDonough, established H2O On the Go in the fall of 2017 with his wife, Amanda Blackburn. The couple sells the use of hydration equipment for indoor and outdoor events. They will be working to keep festival-goers hydrated by supplying free, filtered water with their 125-gallon water tanks during the Geranium Festival — their first as a vendor.

  “I saw a vision and what I could do for events in our community,” said Ussery. “Every event has to have water, so this helps them not to have to hire people to give out water and enables them to use their volunteers for other avenues. It helps with logistics, and it helps with environment.”

  Although the festival typically attracts a large crowd of visitors, their motivations vary as to what they might be looking for. Some of them, said Reed, might be on the lookout for a new handmade craft, others have a different idea in mind.

  “There are people who come for the crafts, and then there are people who come for the food,” she said. “The two main traditional standbys are tomato sandwiches by the McDonough Junior Women’s Club, and then Southern Belle Farm’s strawberries, ice cream and shortcake.”

  New food vendors at this year’s festival include Sherri’s Crab Cakes in McDonough. Toni Benton owns the local franchise with her husband Tim, while also working full-time jobs during the week. Tim Benton is employed by Georgia Power, and his wife is an executive director at Eagle’s Landing Senior Living in Stockbridge.

  “We do this for fun on the weekend,” said Toni Benton regarding the franchise. “We are from Maryland, and we serve Maryland-style crab cakes. We have a huge cult following.”

  This is the Bentons’ first year in the crab-cake business. Toni Benton said the venture is going well so far.

  “We’ve had a huge response, so much so that people want us to have our own restaurant in the area,” she said.

  Toni Benton said she and her husband have taken their crab cakes to festivals in Stone Mountain, Alpharetta and other nearby locations. She is excited about bringing her items to the Geranium Festival.

  “I have a lot of things at my house that I’ve bought from the different vendors,” she said. “The Square is so lovely. I try to support the local community. There’s always something new to see when you come down.”   Parking will be available at Henry County High School, with a free shuttle to the event. For more information, visit https://visitmcdonoughga.com/events-festivals/geranium-festival/.