Festival to celebrate heritage of Laney Walker, Bethlehem area

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - On Saturday, people will have a chance to celebrate the rich heritage and history of the Laney Walker and Bethlehem neighborhoods.

The free Laney Walker Bethlehem Heritage Festival will start at 11 a.m. at Dyess Park, 902 James Brown Blvd.

The festival started in 2008, according to Augusta Housing and Community director Hawthorne Welcher Jr.

“The Commission of Augusta made a commitment to transform, not only bring back a community, but they want to transform a community back into a thriving community,” he said.

He said his department has worked with various partners over the past 12 or13 years on a variety of projects, from affordable housing to workforce housing, to market-rate housing.

“Now we’re actually in the process of supporting the small-business developer,” he said.

So this is an opportunity to showcase some of those small business partnerships like food trucks and vendors, he said.

“It’s going to be a grand time,” he said.

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