June 26 was a hot sunny Saturday, and people were out in droves in downtown Augusta. Crowds headed to the Saturday Market at Riverwalk, filled the Augusta Common for Augusta Pride and frequented the businesses along Broad Street.
MORE: Pride Events Kick Off June 20
The crowds were at pre-pandemic levels and better, according to officials.
“It’s going great,” said Brooke Buxton, Saturday Market director. “This is a typical market day crowd.”
Patrons had plenty of goods to choose from. Freshly baked items, locally grown produce, handmade items from girl’s hair bows to specialty dog treats, jewelry and plants were among the many items the 75 vendors had to offer on the corridor from Reynolds Street to the Savannah River.
Buxton said the market has changed a little this year with more diverse offerings such as vegan and Asian food.
[adrotate banner=”54″]
On the stage at the Savannah River, a DJ played tunes, while live saxophone music was in the central part of the space.
At the entrance to the market, the thumping bass beat from the Augusta Common began its echo. The event drew its own crowd with entertainment from a stage dedicated to Richard Justice, who died in August 2020 from COVID-19.
C.J. Foxx Star, 2021 Mr. Pride, performed during the June 26 festival at the Augusta Common. Staff photo by Charmain Z. Brackett 
Dorae Ciera Saunders, Ms. Augusta Pride, channeled Diana Ross at Augusta Pride Saturday, June 26. Photo by Charmain Z. Brackett
Michael Barnard-Jenkins, vice president of Augusta Pride, said the Friday Beats on Broad party brought its biggest crowd ever.
“We had 5,000 people,” he said.
The Saturday festival offered COVID-19 vaccines, HIV-testing, information booths from area colleges and universities such as Augusta Technical College, Augusta University and Georgia Military College. In addition, vendors sold a variety of Pride-related items such as rainbow flags and other merchandise.
[adrotate banner=”19″]
At the beginning of the event, Barnard-Jenkins said he felt attendance to the festival would be the best yet as well.
“People want to get back to normal. Slowly things are coming back,” he said. “The turnout last night was absolutely amazing.”
Down the street from the Augusta Common, John Stoney Cannon, Steve Johnson and Francie Klopotic celebrated their newly released book “Hooked Onna Feeling” with a book signing at the Book Tavern.
The book is a history of teen music icons from the 1950s to the 1980s with illustrations by Klopotic and a fun comic that runs through the book featuring the author and illustrator.
“I always wanted to do a book,” said Cannon.
The book needed photographs of the rock stars to go with it and paying royalties for them would’ve been exorbitant.
“I was at Goodwill and saw a book from 1971 with illustrations,” he said.
That gave him the idea to get Klopotic to illustrate the book, and it took off from there.
The Book Tavern has been the site of several book signings over the last few Saturdays.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
[adrotate banner=”49″]
