When the 27th Annual Peanut Butter Festival kicks off at 9 a.m. Saturday on the grounds of the historic Bass House, downtown Brundidge will be alive with the sounds of old-time music.

From the beginning, the Peanut Butter Festival was planned as a harvest and heritage celebration and folks are still invited to “come back to the way it used to be.

“Music has always been a part of the culture of the rural South, from the music that was sung in our churches to the music that was played at barn dances,” said Mernette Bray, chair of the festival’s entertainment committee.  That’s the kind of music that we celebrate at the Peanut Butter Festival each year.”

Bray said the 2018 Peanut Butter Festival entertainment will kick off Saturday with the familiar sounds of The Benton Brothers and Company at 9 a.m.

“The Benton Brothers are as much a part of the Peanut Butter Festival as peanut butter,” Bray said. “Alex, Lee and Tim Ellis have kicked off the festival for years. They play those old familiar ‘church’ songs that we all know and love. We appreciate their talent and their continued support of the festival.”

At 10 a.m., the Shiloh  Mountain Boys from Prattville will return to the festival stage.

“The Shiloh Mountain Boys were at the festival last year and they fill up the stage with pickers and singers,”  Bray said. “They play banjos, fiddles, bass fiddles, mandolins, guitars and they sing that old time mountain music. They are our kind of folks.”

At 11:30, a band new to the Peanut Butter Festival, but not new to old-time music, will take center stage.

“Chipola Shanachie from Blountstown, Florida has been at Rex’s Bluegrass Jamboree in Henderson,” Bray said.  “We’re not sure about the meaning of Chipola Shanachie but we know they play great music and they will be a good fit for the festival. The grandmother of the family trio plays what may be described as a “mean” harmonica.”

The Nutter Butter Parade is at 1 p.m. and follows a Main Street route. It’s an anything goes parade so even those who decide at the last minute to parade are encouraged to come on down, get in line and join the fun.

Following the parade, around 2 p.m., the SheBANG! Clog Dance Company from Troy will take center stage.

“We like to close out the Peanut Butter Festival entertainment with a ‘bang’ and there’s no better way to do that than with SheBang,” Bray said. “People enjoy seeing these talented young dancers perform and we look forward to having them at the festival. They always draw an appreciative crowd.”

The Rev. Ed Shirley, Brundidge United Methodist Church, will be the emcee for the Peanut Butter Festival’s stage entertainment.

“Rev. Ed is quite an entertainer himself,” Bray said. “He plays the guitar and he sings, so, there will be no lull in the entertainment. Rev. Ed will also conduct some contests from the stage, for kids and for adults. The kids will compete in peanut butter related contests and one adult will be crowned the 2018 Peanut Butter Festival hog callin’ champion.”

The Peanut Butter Festival pays tribute to the town’s proud heritage in the peanut butter industry. There is no admission charge. The fun is also free.