The streets of downtown Athens, Ala. will be filled with fried food, football, fun and extra crispy special sauce Oct. 19, 2019, with the highly anticipated Athens Grease Festival. The one-day event pays tribute to the Greek origin of the city’s name while celebrating a love for fried food, and partygoers are asked to don their best toga and join the festivities.
The Athens Grease Festival brings food and fun to locals and visitors beginning at 11 a.m. and continuing until 7 p.m. The East Limestone Marching Band will kick off the opening parade at 11 a.m., and just after opening ceremonies, the Dubs Burger eating contest gets underway. Always popular with festivalgoers are the quirky games, especially the frozen turkey toss. Participate in the games for a chance to win toga bucks that can be spent in shops and restaurants in downtown Athens.
The festival will include music from up and coming, nationally recognized Lamont Landers. Other popular musical acts slated to perform include The Redeemers, Trippin’ Dixie, Kaledioscope, Lindsey Hinkle, Seeking Babylon and The Prescriptions.
Festivalgoers are encouraged to arrive hungry. A wide range of fried food is on the menu from many vendors. Already committed to participate are The Spud Truck, Our Little Kitchen, Old Town Queing, New South Hotdogs, Eastern Point Bistro, Battered by the Bay, Hildegard’s, Rita’s, Dubs and several more. Organizers are not worried about encouraging others to indulge as long as everyone eats responsibly the other 364 days of the year.
Football fans will be taken care of at the Fan Zone presented by WOW! The area will be filled with big screen TVs and cable hook ups tuned to SEC football teams and beer, wine and Pepsi products will be available to purchase.
