Billed as a rain festival to fight Georgia's drought, the event even included a rain dance, but turnout was slim and precipitation was even scarcer than people.
"Not much of a turnout," landscaper Linda Boyer said Saturday, squinting against bright sunshine under a cloudless sky and scanning the nearly empty parking lot sprinkled with several tables of water-related activities and volunteers.
Competition was part of the problem. "There's a lot of festivals going on elsewhere - the Ellijay Apple Festival, the pumpkin patches, haunted houses, Cagle Dairy's Corn Maize Festival..." Boyer said, adding that the event was a last-minute decision and was organized in just 10 days.
Cherokee County Water Authority employees handed out pamphlets and water-saving shower heads. Recycled water gurgled in a wishing well set up in the parking lot outside the Woodstock Art Center.
A local teen dance troupe appeared to perform in the tradition of Native American rain dances - but drew an audience of less than a dozen.
Kendra Cosner, who called herself "company mom" for the teen performers from Dancentre South, quipped:
"Bottom line, when it's not raining, everybody prays to the Big Guy regardless of culture."Click here for more GPB News coverage of the drought.
(The Associated Press)
