Thousands of people packed Donald Anderson Park Saturday night as the City of Cornelia hosted its annual Cornelia Music Fest featuring country music headliner Mark Wills and a first-of-its-kind drone show celebrating the city’s Big Red Apple centennial.
Additional performances throughout the evening included Dylan Armour, Lindsay Beth Harper and the County River Band.
Cornelia City Manager Donald Anderson said city officials estimated attendance at more than 3,000 people during the event, which marked the first year the festival was held at Donald Anderson Park.
“The park was just completely covered up with people sitting in their lawn chairs,” Anderson said. “So it was great.”
Wills, a longtime country music performer and Grand Ole Opry member, brought decades of chart success to the Cornelia stage. During his career, Wills has recorded multiple Top 10 country hits including “19 Somethin’,” “I Do (Cherish You),” “Don’t Laugh at Me” and “Jacob’s Ladder.” He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2019.
The annual festival, now in its eighth year, was organized by the city’s Hospitality and Tourism Board with the goal of promoting tourism and supporting local businesses.
“We started the music festival eight years ago just as an idea to bring people to town, and it’s grown from there,” Anderson said.
Anderson said downtown businesses and food vendors saw strong turnout throughout the event.
“This year, I think we had 13 different food vendors, and they all were very successful,” Anderson said. “And like I said, the local businesses did very well as well.”
One of the biggest attractions of the evening came after sunset when approximately 200 drones lit up the night sky with animated images celebrating Cornelia and the Big Red Apple’s 100th anniversary.
The city turned to the drone show after complaints followed previous fireworks displays near residential neighborhoods.
“And so this year, to try and do something a little less invasive to the neighborhood, we got the idea to do the drone show,” Anderson said.
City officials worked closely with the drone company to help design the aerial display, providing ideas, sponsor logos and themes tied to the Big Red Apple centennial celebration.
“We wanted to showcase the Big Red Apple, let people know that it was the 100th anniversary of it,” Anderson said.
The event also offered residents a glimpse into the future of Donald Anderson Park as construction continues on the city’s planned amphitheater project.
According to Anderson, the success of the music festival over the last eight years helped inspire development of the permanent venue.
“Obviously we’re building this state-of-the-art amphitheater with the intent to bring more musical groups to the city,” Anderson said.
He added that performers have repeatedly praised Cornelia’s hospitality and organization.
“We hear back from all the bands that have been here about how great we are to work with, how hospitable we are, and they all want to come back and play in Cornelia,” Anderson said.
Anderson also took time during the interview to recognize the behind-the-scenes work of his wife, Linda Anderson, who serves on the city’s Hospitality and Tourism Board and helps coordinate much of the festival’s operations.
“She is the one that is in contact with the manager months out and runs the day of operations,” Anderson said. “You may see city employees there, but they all know that day they’re reporting to her, not me.”
