Sounds of rock ‘n’ roll tunes, smells of deep-fried foods and sights of smiling faces emerged throughout downtown Bessemer City Saturday for the first time in more than a year.
It was the annual Down Home Festival, which has drawn as many as 5,000 people to Virginia and Pennsylvania avenues each year over the last 33 years.
At the hand of the COVID-19 pandemic, residents of Bessemer City and the surrounding area went more than a year without attending annual festivals, celebrations and other traditions based in the region.
“We’ve been cooped up for a year,” said Denice Talbert, a 62-year-old Kings Mountain resident who works in Bessemer City and has attended the festival regularly in its history.