50th Concord Country Jubilee

The historic 50th annual Concord Country Jubilee will be held Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 21-22 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The parade will be at 2 p.m. Saturday. A limited number of 50th Jubilee commemorative t-shirts and hats can be purchased at Concord City Hall during regular business hours.
In addition to sold out vendor spaces, the Jubilee will include live music, fun for all and the Concord Jubilee Reminisce Photo Contest.

“We have had so much fun sifting through old newspaper clippings and photographs from previous Concord Jubilees,” said Concord city clerk Anita Neath. “Reminiscing spawned the idea to sponsor a Concord Jubilee Reminisce Photo Contest. Dig through those old pictures (yes, even before there were smartphones, jpg, pngs and Polaroids)! Find your favorite photo and post it on the City of Concord, Georgia facebook page’s post about the contest by Oct. 13. Two winners will be announced Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. First place will receive a Jubilee tee shirt and cap. Second place will receive a tee or cap.”

Saturday’s 2023 musical lineup for the historic 50th anniversary Jubilee will include Pine Grove Five at 10 a.m. The Fairlanes at 11:15 a.m., Are You Kind at 12:30 p.m., Pike County Junior Players at 3 p.m. and Fourth Dimension at 4 p.m. Sunday’s lineup includes a 9 a.m. Sunday service led by New Mount Calvary Baptist Church, New Creation at noon, River’s Edge at 3 p.m. and Slim Pickens at 4 p.m.
According to Mary Ann Dunn, she said she told her husband in 1972 that Concord should have a festival of its own after going to the nearby Cotton Pickin’ Fair. The Concord council established committees to help plan the event.

Julie Mae Elder came up with the name and the Concord Country Jubilee was first held in 1973. The Concord Community Club had one of the first booths, selling biscuits and sausages, cooked on a wooden stove. Proceeds from the Jubilee went to support projects for the city, including the purchase of a new 750-gallon FMC high pressure pumper firetruck in 1976. That was around the time a fire department was established in Concord, with assistant fire chiefs John Strickland and Steve Lee.

This year’s celebration is even more special because historically, the Jubilee was a year of emancipation and restoration which was held every 50 years. According to ancient Hebrew laws as an economic, cultural, environmental and communal reset, when land and people were allowed to rest and all those in slavery were set free.