“The World’s Longest Yard Sale” is set to begin its 30th year run in just one week, as the U.S. 127 Yard Sale will begin an almost 700 mile stretch next week and will run through the heart of Albany and Clinton County.

The official yard sale dates are Thursday through Sunday, August 3-6, but as always, the bargains all along the route, especially in Kentucky and Tennessee, begin a couple of days prior to the actual official “start time” as some vendors along the route are set up to sell items for almost a full week.

Over the past three decades, the sale route area has expanded to some 690 miles, covering six states north to south and everywhere in between.

The sale, which began in and is still headquartered in nearby Jamestown, Tennessee, stretches from Addison, Michigan to the north to Gadsden, Alabama to the south and also includes the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee and Georgia.

The annual mid-summer trek for bargain hunters also affords some die-hard shoppers to begin early Christmas shopping.

Many areas of Albany and Clinton County will be wall-to-wall with sale sites, especially during the primary days of the sale late next week and weekend, both along U.S. 127 and areas not directly on the route.

As always, one of the primary areas where several sites are available in Clinton County is Mountain View Park, which has numerous sale booths available. Spots at that location are $60 each and some are still available by calling park director Bobby Reneau at 688-4337.

The outdoor corridor sale has become a mid-summer tradition that takes place between the final two “big three” summer holidays, the 4th of July and Labor Day weekend and always draws thousands of visitors from across not only surrounding states, but people from all across the county, not to mention all area local residents who shop for bargains and those unique hard-to-find items at a yard sale price.

In fact, some visitors are even from outside the U.S., as the event has been advertised on news media and social outlets over the past few years.

The sale, which is not only touted as the world’s longest and largest in the U.S., but is also believed by many to be the best such yard sale event of its type. And, by looking at the sale route map, Clinton County and Southern Kentucky is almost in the very middle of all the activity that takes place during the yard sale dates.

The sale is definitely not limited to just major vendor set up sites, but homes all along the route have yard sales filled with bargains of all types for travelers and treasure hunters.

The original intent of the sale back in the late 1980s was to prove the back roads also have something to offer travelers, tourists and shoppers and that the interstate system isn’t the only mode of vehicle travel.

Local officials and organizations in Kentucky and Tennessee over the years have also put together hundreds of attractions along the route to provide entertainment, attractions, food vendors and various other events for the entire family.

A few years ago, the Lookout Mountain Parkway Association asked to be included in the sale route after the event began to grow. The Parkway leaves Chattanooga at Highway 58 and becomes several different highway numbers reaching the final stage to Gadsden. This makes it no longer just the “127 Sale” but the same great, and larger, sale.

Even though overall numbers of visitors have decreased slightly over the years locally, still thousands of visitors are expected to travel through, and many stay a day or two, in the area, which makes it a “good deal” for both the local economy and tourism industry. Many people actually plan their vacations around the week of the 127 Sale.

Other than Mountain View Park, several other larger areas of concentration for multiple sale vendors can be seen in Clinton County, including near Junction Station on west Hwy. 90 and the lot across from at the IDA-Welcome Center, among others.

Local motorists and pedestrians are reminded that traffic will increase dramatically next week, especially the late week and weekend, and you are asked to watch for slower or sometimes stopped traffic and asked to drive a little slower in heavily visited areas along the route.

For more information about the U.S. 127 Corridor Sale, log on to www.127sale.com or for local events contact the local Chamber of Commerce or Tourism Commission.