If you are tired of staying home and looking for something special to do, the Quitman Chamber of Commerce has the answer. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Dogwood Festival, which is normally held in March, was postponed.

According to event coordinator, Brandi Box, the chamber is looking forward to people getting out for some family fun at the park.

“The Dogwood Festival will be taking place Oct. 31 at Jim Hogg Park from noon to five,” Box said. “We will be following social distancing protocol and we are asking everyone to wear a mask. We will have hand sanitizing set up, too. We will be trying to keep people safe.”

Box said there are fun activities for the entire family.

“At noon, we start with a .5 (half-mile) fun run with prizes for the best dressed Halloween costume for an adult and a kid. At 1 p.m. we will start a corn-hole tournament with registration for that event beginning at noon,” Box noted. “Starting at noon, we will have vendors in the park, such as arts and crafts and farmer’s market type vendors too.”

Box said organizations and businesses owners in the community are invited at no charge to come to the park, have a table and pass out candy.

“Since the annual Candy Walk has been canceled we want the local folks to be able to come and set up to give away candy to local children in a safe place,” Box noted.

“Basically, we want you to bring your kids and have a family day at the park and still be able to have your Halloween fun without going door to door trick or treating,” Box said. “The chamber will be having hot dog baskets with a hot dog, chips and a drink.”

The new basketball court at the park will be prominent. “We are also going to incorporate the new Kiwanis basketball court at the park. It will be just for fun this year. You will be able to sign up and it will be a family versus family thing,” Box added. “We will have a bracket and the winners will get some kind of prize. It’s just purely for fun.”

Originally, the event was to have bounce houses, but COVID-19 protocol took care of that, but there will still be good music.

“We are excited to have the Kelly Moore Band from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and we are going to have a Halloween costume contest with winners in different age brackets,” Box observed.

Event tee-shirts will be available. Vendor spots are $20 each for those selling something. For those just giving out candy, there will be no charge. Contact Box at 903-730-0296. There will also be an event Facebook page.”

In the case of bad weather the event will be canceled.