Southern festivals warm up to winter -- Atlanta, GA

article by Bill Giduz published in IJA Newsletter

The overwhelming success of the second annual Ground­hog Day Jugglers Festival in Atlanta February 2-4 clearly established it as the premier jugglers gathering in the Southeastern USA.

86 jugglers from NC, SC, GA, FL, TN and KY convened for the mid-winter weekend festival, sponsored by the Atlanta Jugglers Association. Several hundred spectators dropped in over the course of the event to witness informal workouts, impromptu public shows and the Saturday afternoon competition.

For the second year straight, Louis Zeller of Marshall, NC was named by a panel of non-juggling Atlanta celebrities as winner of the "Most Spectacular" award. Mark Norman of Nashville, TN, was named "Most Incredible," and Rodger French, president of the Atlanta Jugglers Association, won "Most Stupendous" award. All got groundhog trophies.

Toni Shifalo, vice-president of the Atlanta Jugglers Association, said she hoped this success, on top of the same type of response last year, will spur other Southeastern groups to begin their own festivals. She said all but $74 of the $400 cost of the event was recovered from t-shirt sales, the $2 registration fee and hat-passing through the crowd at the public shows.