Gainesville’s 2021 Spring Chicken Festival has been postponed from its traditional April date to the fall.

Christina Santee, Gainesville public relations manager, said the event has a tentative date of Saturday, Nov. 6. She explained that the city decided to reschedule it to the fall in order to ensure the safety of its attendees, vendors and others involved.  

“Holding an event in April, we didn’t feel like it would be enough time to make sure everyone was safe, and we didn’t want to completely mark if off our calendar for 2021,” Santee said. 

Instead of settling in Longwood Park, the event’s 2019 location, the city plans to hold the Spring Chicken Festival at Lake Lanier Olympic Park. Santee said this switch was made to give the event more space, especially with its growing popularity. She assures the community that the 2021 festival will have the same activities people know and love, including the annual cook-off where teams grill, fry or smoke massive quantities of chicken.

When the city canceled the event in 2020, Santee said many locals, including vendors, were devastated. To make up for the loss from last year, she said Gainesville intends to implement a “bigger and better” Spring Chicken Festival.

If we’re going to do this, I think the goal is we’re going to do it right,” Santee said. “And, we’re giving the public something that was worth the wait.”