With a year of planning that always takes place before every Foothills Festival now behind them, and with last weekend’s early events over – both on successful notes – the planning committee for the 2016 Foothills Festival is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the main weekend.

Sharing with them their feelings of anxiety, are the residents of Albany and Clinton County, along with friends and neighbors from near and far, who will be attending the annual premier fall celebration – the Foothills Festival.

This one will be the 37th fall festival for Albany and Clinton County that is named for the location of this region in relation to being at the “foothills” of the Appalachian Mountain Range.

If the weather forecast for the upcoming weekend holds true, planners and attendees alike should be in for a fantastic outing from beginning to end.

According to the Weather Channel forecast for Albany and Clinton County, only a 10 percent chance of rain is possible on Friday, with just a 20 percent chance of showers on Saturday.

Highs on Friday are expected to be in the mid 70s and on Saturday, highs should reach the low 80s by the afternoon.

Bring a jacket if you plan on staying past the afternoon, as lows on both days are forecast to drop to a chilly but pleasant mid 50s range.

Other than that, expect a full schedule of fun and entertainment for both days, a town that will be chock full of family and friends old and new, and a lineup of food and arts and crafts offerings that the Foothills Festival has become famous for.

Celebrating the fall season will be high on the list, going along with this year’s theme for the 37th version – Celebrating My Ol’ Kentucky Home.

Already behind us on the 2016 schedule is the Foothills Baby Show, held this past Saturday and producing a vast number of our county’s youngest population competing – along with family and friends watching and applauding.

Also this past weekend was the annual Foothills Gospel Singing feature held on Sunday and featuring four local and regional acts at the Clinton County Learning Center Auditorium.

Event organizer Ricky Brown told the Clinton County News this week that Sunday’s show was one of the best attended events in the history of the Gospel Singing event, estimating that about 150 people were in the audience during the lineup of entertainers.

More pageantry gets things underway

With the baby show being held last weekend, this weekend’s lineup on the Foothills Festival schedule will see even more pageantry on stage with the 2016 Foothills Pageants slated in it’s traditional Thursday night spot on the schedule.

With a Prince and Princess pageant to get things underway, the night of Foothills pageantry will also include a Little Miss (ages 5-7), Junior Miss (ages 8-11), Teen Miss (ages 12-14) and a Miss Foothills Festival (ages 15-21) being named.

Held at the Clinton County Learning Center beginning at 6:00 p.m., admission to the Foothills lineup of pageants will be $3. Additional details can be learned by contacting Kimberly Stockton (606-688-0400).

Also on Thursday night is the judging for the Foothills Window Display Contest, open to all Albany merchants.

Paying attention to the 2016 Foothills Festival theme is suggested (Celebrating My Ol Kentucky Home).

At stake of course, in addition to bragging rights, is the coveted traveling Window Display Champion trophy.

Call Jay Garner (606-688-0469) or Becky Smith (606-306-5058) for details or to make sure your window gets on the judging list.

Friday begins a full, busy lineup

If pageants and window judging gets things off to a slower, mellow pace on Thursday, the 2016 Foothills Festival hits a full and faster level when things get rolling on Friday.

With local students our of school for fall break this week, the fun for the younger crowd can get off and running early Friday with the 11:00 a.m. opening of the Pumpkin Patch attractions adjacent to First and Farmers Bank just off of the courthouse square.

Rides, games, inflatables and other attractions will be on hand for the younger Foothills crowd, with all-day $5 arm bands available.

The Patch will close briefly on Friday for the Foothills Parade, running between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and again Friday from 6:00 p.m. until. 8:00 p.m.

Friday will also see the opening of the arts and crafts booths around the courthouse square, offering a wide range of goods from vendors that are both local and regional.

Bring some toe-tapping shoes – and a hearty appetite

Of course no one attending this weekend’s Foothills Festival should ever go hungry, and a visit – or six – to the Foothills Festival Food Court, located on the west side of the courthouse square behind the Foothills Building, will prove to be satisfying to any craving and could probably even offer up a few new food experiences as well.

The food court will remain open throughout the entire schedule Friday and Saturday.

The weekend musical entertainment lineup gets underway Friday afternoon with one of the traditional crowd favorites when the Clinton County High School Band takes the stage in a concert setting.

Under the direction of Doug Sell, the local band will be making the first of two appearances on Friday when it takes Stage 1, in front of Albany First Baptist Church, at 12:00 noon.

The second appearance for the band being, of course, it’s always crowd pleasing spot in the Foothills Festival Parade later that same afternoon.

Following the C.C.H.S. Band appearance at noon, some of the former members of that same group, the C.C.H.S. Alumni Band will be on hand to entertain, beginning at 1:00 p.m., also at Stage 1.

Registration and set-up begin sfor a host of contests mid-day Friday at the Foothills Festival Building.

Those wishing to enter the poster contest can begin bringing entries to the registration area at the Foothills Festival booth, with the Poster Contest and Lego Building Contest entries being collected starting at 12:00 noon, while Pumpkin Decorating and Pumpkin Carving entries can be registered beginning at 1:00 p.m.

Dynamic Entertainment, featuring interactive games and activities for children, will have its first of two Friday night features beginning at 4:00 p.m. prior to the Foothills Parade, with a second show following the arade at about 6:00 p.m.

Of course the main event for Friday afternoon will produce a hoard of fans with the start of the traditional best parade in this region, the Foothills Festival Parade will begin its trek through town beginning at 5:00 p.m. from the Westview Shopping Center parking lot.

Friday evening will bring out two entertaining choices to close out the evening, with Border Line Band taking Stage 1 beginning at 6:30 p.m., while Gary West will take Stage 2 to entertain late staying fans with his country sounds and Johnny Cash like show beginning at 7:00 p.m.

The night comes to a close with a bang with the first of two large fireworks shows that can be seen from the courthouse square beginning at 9:00 p.m.

Saturday starts with a race pace and ends with Bang II

With the rising sun – of more often than not, fall fog, on Saturday morning, the 2016 Foothills Festival lineup of fun gets off to a fast start, and doesn’t slow down until the skies fill with more fireworks late that night.

The annual Foothills Festival 5K Run will see runners gathering at Mountain View Recreation park before 7:00 a.m. for the registration, followed by the 8:00 a.m. start that last year saw one of its largest entry fields ever for the run that ends at Dyer Drug Company, Inc. on the north side of the courthouse square.

Mixed in with the adult runners, will also be many, if not most, of the members of the Runnin’ Dawgs Cross Country team.

Get out early and give all the runners a boost of encouragement from anywhere along the 5K route.

Car enthusiasts, owners and everyone who enjoys a little shine and bling can be found enjoying the morning and afternoon at the Foothills Car, Truck, Motorcycle and Tractor Show Saturday.

Registration gets underway at 9:00 a.m. in the parking lot of People’s Bank and Trust just north of the courthouse square on Cross Street.

Vehicles, bikes, tractors and rods of all shapes, sizes and models will be on hand for viewing and judging between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Registration for the afternoon lineup of contests (parent child look alike, lip sync, etc), will get underway at 10:00 a.m at the Foothills booth, continuing until 12:00 noon and being early rather than late is always suggested.

Arts and Crafts booths will be open and ready for business no later than 10:00 a.m., and the children’s favorite area, the Pumpkin Patch, will get its lineup of attractions, rides, games and inflatables next to First and Farmers Bank also at 10:00 a.m.

The second Foothills Parade of the weekend makes a return to the schedule in 2016 with the Little Red Wagon Parade at 11:00 a.m. (10:30 lineup) in front of the Albany Baptist Church.

Also included in the Saturday morning Foothills Festival schedule will be one of several new events to the 2016 lineup with a Lumberjack Show and demonstration, on the south side of the courthouse (Jefferson Street), at 11:30 a.m.

Dynamic Entertainment, with its children’s specialty lineup of entertainment, will bring a show to the Pumpkin Patch for another presentation at 12:00 noon.

At 12:30 p.m. at the Stage 1 location, the Timberline Road Band, presented by the Clinton County Community Foundation, will take the stage for its bluegrass and gospel flavored show lineup that will produce plenty of toe-tapping and sing-along tunes through the early afternoon hours.

While the food court will continue to be one of the crowd favorites areas throughout the day, a new twist on “something to eat” will take the crowd to the East Cumberland Street (near David Choate’s law office) in the early afternoon hours.

Another new entry to the Foothills schedule this year, a Hot Dog Eating Contest gets underway at Stage 2 beginning at 1:00 p.m., with contestants having a five minute stretch to eat as many dogs as possible for bragging rights to this new contest.

More contest will follow at the Stage 2 locale, with the 2:00 p.m. start of the Parent/Child Look Alike Contests.

Of course at 3:00 p.m. will be the most looked forward to contest of the weekend for Foothills Festival attendees when the annual favorite, the Foothills Lip Sync contest gets underway, brining a “no-telling-what” lineup to the stage that is certain to produce plenty of laughs, applauses and even a likely gasp or two for the afternoon.

Things begin to slow with the setting sun as a couple of final musical offerings to close out the 2016 schedule.

At 6:00 p.m. on Stage 1 (Albany First Baptist Church), Cody Hull from just across the state line in Byrdstown, will be the featured entertainer.

The brother to well-known bluegrass star Sierra Hull, Cody Hull has emerged as one of the most sought after young bluegrass performers in this region, having already appeared numerous times on the Grand Old Opry Stage and has shared the stage in appearances across the country with stars such as Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs and a host of others.

On the other side of town, things will be hopping on Stage 2 as well when Tin Sleep, another nearby group of entertainers from Burkesville, brings its band featuring classic rock, southern rock and country music to the stage.

Doug Sells, Greg Collins, Jimmy King, Tom Watson, Ben King and Cliff Burkhart will get the Tin Sleep show underway at 6:30 p.m.

Bringing the Foothills 2016 lineup of fun to another loud and exciting close for a second straight year, the Saturday night fireworks extravaganza is set to fill the sky with explosions, beginning at 8:00 p.m.

Whew! Should be loads of fun, food and friends.

Get a little rest, then make your way to Albany. Come early and stay late and get ready for some fantastic music, great food and a host of activities for two long days.

There is plenty of old, a little new and a lineup that promises to have something for everyone as we come together, once again, for a final fall celebration with family and friends.

Come one, come all to our foothills region of the Appalachian Mountains for this 37th annual celebration we have come to love and know as the Foothills Festival, and once again as we put out the invitation to everyone to . . .

“Come See It Our Way!”

Sandy Staton, of Albany, was the first performer on stage Sunday during the annual Foothills Festival Gospel Singing event at the Clinton County Learning Center. Gary Little, also of Albany, accompanied Staton on the bass guitar during her performance. About 150 spectators enjoyed Sunday’s pre-Foothills event.