The Summerville Friendship Festival will be held today at Dowdy Park in Summerville.  The event is presented by Summerville Main Street and there will be activities at the park starting at 10 AM and going until 4 PM.  In addition to free events for kids, the festival will feature live music from the Soulshine Band.

SoulShine is a 5 member band from South Georgia that was formed in 2005.  The group features Southern and classic rock along with “outlaw country” and rhythm and blues.

Also there will be food and craft vendors at the event.  There will also be a free diaper giveaway going on at today’s Friendship Festival.  The diapers are being provided by Amerigroup Community Care.  According to Amerigroup’s website, Amerigroup has helped over 1 million families access quality healthcare through Georgia Families Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids^®.   The diapers will be given away while supplies last.

In addition to a water slide and kids activities, there will also be a groundbreaking for the new World Friendship Park that will take place at 11 AM today.   The park site is across from the Summerville Depot and will feature 550 engraved brick pavers.  Susan Locklear with Summerville Main Street says that the sale of pavers for the World Friendship Pocket Park has been a success because the community read about it, saw the vision and stepped up to support it. Some families have bought a paver to leave a legacy at the park, while others want to honor a departed friend or family member. Businesses and organizations have also bought bricks.

Locklear said the park will also have a flagpole where the Friendship Flag will fly along with benches, landscaping, irrigation and lighting.