The 24th Annual Peanut Butter Festival in Brundidge will kickoff Wednesday night with the Brush Arbor Singing at the Knox Ryals Pavilion on the grounds of the historic Bass House/City Hall.

The singing will get underway at 6 p.m. with the Pike County Choral Group in concert and the Brush Arbor singing will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The singing is sponsored annually by First National Bank. Everyone is invited to come early and enjoy complimentary apple cider and salted peanuts prior to the Brush Arbor Singing.

“What better way to get the Peanut Butter Festival off to a great start than to bring the community together for a time of worshipful singing,” said Jimmy Ramage, FNB board chairman.

Brush Arbor Singings are one form of Alabama’s wellspring of traditional gospel music.

The congregational singings developed, in part, by early traveling evangelists who sang and accompanied themselves and their congregations with instrumental music at outdoor brush arbor meetings.

Although the Brush Arbor Singing will not be held under a brush arbor, Ramage said the spirit of the singing will be the same as in the early days of brush arbor singings.

“Bleachers will be set up but those who would prefer lawn chairs are welcome to bring them,” Ramage said. “We’ll have song sheets but the songs we’ll sing are the old familiar hymns that most people know.

“The Brush Arbor Singing is a very popular event and a great way to get the Peanut Butter Festival underway. Those of us at the bank always look forward to it and I know that many people in the community do, too.”

Ramage said each Brush Arbor Singing opens and closes with prayer.

“We believe that’s the way it should be,” he said. “The Brush Arbor Singing is a worship service of songs.”

The 24th Annual Peanut Butter Festival is set for Saturday, Oct. 31. The festival will get underway with the 5K Peanut Butter Run at 8 a.m. at Green’s Antiques and, on the festival grounds at the historic Bass House, at 9 a.m.

The Peanut Butter Festival will feature old-time demonstrations, non-satop music, arts and crafts, food booths, games and contests and a nutty parade.

The Nutter Butter Parade will be the featured attraction at 1 p.m. on Main Street. It’s an anything goes parade. Pre-registration (334-735-2351) is welcomed but not required. Just come, get in line along Veterans Blvd. north of the Piggly Wiggly and parade on down.