Woodburn will celebrate one of its former cash crops with the 10th annual Woodburn Days Strawberry Festival.

The two-day event will begin at 8 p.m. Friday and continue Saturday along Main Street in front of Marsha T’s Antique Center. Also held in conjunction with the festival will be Rock Garden Farm’s Spring Gathering from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the shop at 12785 Nashville Road in Woodburn, as well as Chaney’s Dairy Barn’s Kentucky Proud Festival from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the restaurant at 9191 Nashville Road.

The Strawberry Festival will include antique and collectible flea market, crafts, a citywide yard sale and children’s activities. There will also be barbecue, strawberry shortcake, strawberry fried pies, Mennonite baked goods and other types of food for sale, as well as registration for a free gift certificate and special discounts at Marsha T’s Antique Center.

“The Strawberry Festival started as an anniversary celebration for Marsha T’s Antique Center, and now everyone in Woodburn is involved in it,” said Marsha T’s Antique Center owner Marsha McCurry, who helps with the festival. “The city does not charge the vendors. It’s a fun day for everybody.”

It becomes a homecoming of sorts for people in and from Woodburn as well as a historical moment for those who visit, McCurry said.

“People come who have a connection to Woodburn or because they want a little bit of history. You go back in time with the old buildings. There’s a lot of history in Woodburn,” she said. “They see friends they haven’t seen in a while. It’s like a big reunion. People come everywhere for this. Woodburn is a very special place.”

Rock Garden Farm owner Darlene Sawyers agreed. Spring Gathering will feature 30 vendors from Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee bringing a mixture of antiques, primitives, crafts, collectibles and flowers.

“It’s a real social day. People from the community all come out,” she said. “It’s a good day to see everybody. A lot of people come from out of state. It’s a little gathering we enjoy.”

The festival draws at least 1,000 to 1,500 people to Rock Garden Farm alone, Sawyers said.

“We’ve done this here for at least six years. There was another shop up the road having a festival, and we were getting the overflow so we just decided to join in,” she said. “It’s the biggest day of the year for us.”

Now in its fourth year as part of the Strawberry Festival, Chaney’s Kentucky Proud Festival will boast 14 Kentucky vendors selling a variety of items including soy candles, honey, handmade items and stained glass. The restaurant will also sell grilled ribeye sandwiches and hamburgers as well as a strawberry dessert, owner Debra Chaney said.

“We’re part of the Woodburn community. When there are more things for people to do, it gives the crowd a variety of things to see and do,” she said. “We’re excited. I think it will be a fun day.”

— For more information about the Strawberry Festival, call 529-2424 or 529-5101. For more information about A Spring Gathering, call 529-9144. For more information about Chaney’s Daily Barn Kentucky Proud Festival, call 843-5567.