49th annual Honeybee Festival set

The 49th annual Honeybee Festival is buzzing around town and will be held on Saturday, Aug. 17.

The event will be from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Fourth of July Park, 702 W. Mountain St. The festival is free to attend.

The festival will have vendors, food trucks, handmade crafts, kids activities, baked goods, non-profits, commercial businesses, train rides, face paintings, gem mining, make-your-own stuffed animals, sand art and of course honey.

Parking will be available at Kernersville Elementary School, at 501 W. Mountain St. People can access the event by walking through the bus parking lot or walking along the sidewalk of West Mountain Street. Handicap-accessible parking will be available at the front at the West Mountain Entrance of Fourth of July Park.

For those would like to volunteer and help the festival out in any way, contact the Kernersville Parks and Recreation Department at (336)-996-3062 to sign up or email cray@toknc.com.

The history of the Honeybee Festival for the Town of Kernersville Park and Recreation Department states:

“On March 5th, 1973, Brady Mullinax began his effort to distinguish the honeybee as our state insect. He took our State Honey Queen, Pat Dollarhite to Raleigh. As she drizzled honey from a honey bear on their biscuits, she said, ‘Who wouldn’t vote in favor of the Honeybee Bill?’ The bill was represented in the Senate by Betty Ann Wilkie and in the House by E. Lawrence Davis. The honeybee became North Carolina’s official state insect.”

Two years later in the summer of 1975, Lucy Lewis, the Rev. Jim Carriker, and Beverly Everett brought forth the idea of a festival to celebrate Mullinax’s achievements within the town. That summer, Kernersville celebrated the first Honeybee Festival.

“Brady’s success in making the Honeybee our state insect was commemorated in 1987 by the U.S. Postal Service. They issued an embossed Honeybee stamped envelope and later followed with a Honeybee stamp in 1988. Brady hived his first swarm of bees at age 9 and continued to work with them until his passing,” said the Kernersville Parks and Recreation Department Honeybee Festival statement. “In 2005, the festival was awarded the Dorothy Mullen Arts and Humanities Award. This award exemplifies programs that reflect the most innovative and effective arts and humanities programs across the nation. This national award recognizes the importance of arts and humanities programs and the leisure service agencies that provide them.”

Although August is one of the hotter months of the year, Fourth of July Park offers plenty of shade, said Cady Ray, Kernersville’s recreation superintendent.

“90% of the vendors are along the shaded path, we’ll also be handing out honeybee fans, and there will be a misting tint courtesy of Sutton Brothers for people to cool down,” Ray said. “Fourth of July Park also has a brand new walking path that was repaved and widened, so it will be more accessible and enjoyable for all attending.”

To learn more about the event, go to https://kvparks.com/event/honeybee-festival-2024/.