Downtown Clinton’s Fall Antique Festival will return this year
After taking a year off because of the pandemic, the Clinch River Fall Antique Festival returns to Historic Downtown Clinton on Oct. 1-2, with activities planned just like in the past.
“We are tickled to death to be back with our fall festival,” said Donna Raines, owner of Burrville antiques, and president of the Historic Downtown Clinton Merchants Association, which sponsors the event. “We love to highlight our community.”
The festival will open at noon on Friday, Oct. 1, and will continue through the day on Saturday, Oct. 2, beginning at 9 a.m.
Friday’s events will include live musical entertainment by The NashTones. Other live music will be featured on Saturday, and a variety of antiques, artisan and food vendors will be set up downtown.
Of course, the event will be a showcase for the antiques shops on Main and Market streets, and Market Street will be closed to vehicular traffic so the street vendors and food trucks can set up. The vendors will set up along Market, Cullom and Eagle Bend streets.
There also will be an antique car exhibit during the day on Saturday. The Beer Garden will return, as well. The Garden, Taylor Martin’s new pop-up bar, and Clinch River Brewing will be on Market Street offering local craft beers brewed in Anderson County.
“We are so glad to have the fall festival again after losing it last year, but surprisingly, our downtown merchants had one of their best fall seasons ever last year even without the festival,” Raines said. “I believe that’s because by the fall, people were just ready to get back out again.”
This year, the downtown merchants began their monthly sidewalk sales again in April, and this fall there will be a full schedule of events downtown, including the popular Cookie Crawl in early December, Raines said.
“We have several great events coming up after the fall festival,” Raines said.
“Our downtown Christmas Open House event will be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 5-6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and then we will have our Small Business Saturday on Nov. 27, just after Thanksgiving,” she said.
“Then on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 3-4, we will have our Holiday Market for the shops on Main and Market.
“And on Friday night, Dec. 3, we will have our annual Cookie Crawl,” Raines said. “Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Grinch and some ‘Frozen’ characters will be on Market Street from 5 to 8, and you can eat your way through the shops with free cookies.”
These events are sponsored by the Historic Downtown Clinton Merchants Association, Raines said..
There will be free admission and free downtown parking for the events.
