Oneonta Community Meets for Annual Dinner Downtown

On a beautiful autumn evening, the Oneonta community gathers on the downtown street to enjoy good food and good fellowship. Set in late September and meant to note the start of the Covered Bridge Festival in the coming weeks, Dinner Downtown is a quaint and fun way to spend a fall evening surrounded by 200 of your closest friends.

“Dinner Downtown is something everyone looks forward to all year,” says Blount-Oneonta Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bekah Phillips. “We line First Avenue with one long table, and everyone sits at that same table to eat a three-course meal provided by our local restaurants. It is something so special and really brings the community together.”

For some, Dinner Downtown has become an annual tradition with tickets selling out each year.

“I was at the very first Dinner, and I’ve been at every one since then,” says Oneonta Mayor Richard Phillips. “It’s an honor to sit at the same table with so many impactful people in our community. It’s seriously like a large family reunion, but then you also see new faces and get to have conversations with them as well. It’s an all-around great experience.”

This year’s Dinner Downtown is set for Monday, September 23rd with tickets going on sale closer to that date. Appetizers, main courses, and desserts are always provided by local Blount County businesses.

“It’s important for us to keep everything as local as possible,” says Phillips. “This is a way for the Chamber to give back to those who support us throughout the year and say thank you. We want our local restaurants to see a positive impact, and we also hire either a local musician to play during the event or we have student musicians or singers come from nearby Wallace State Community College. We also have local students or school ambassadors serve during the event, and our décor and centerpieces are provided by one of our local businesses. It sincerely is about keeping everything as local and impactful to our community as possible.”

Plans are still in the works for this year’s Dinner Downtown, but Phillips hopes it’s the best one yet to commemorate the Covered Bridge Festival celebrating its 40th year.

“The Dinner began as a way to mark the lead up to the Covered Bridge Festival,” says Phillips. “That event brings in 10,000 plus people with tons of different activities happening that day. It’s one the biggest events in our county annually, so adding Dinner Downtown makes it that much more special.”

Covered Bridge Festival is set for Saturday, October 12th from 9am – 4pm and includes arts & crafts vendors, live music, a car show, and the Kidz Zone in downtown Oneonta. In addition, visitors can enjoy a covered bridges bus tour, river walk, quilt show, pancake breakfast, and more.

For more information on the Dinner Downtown, call the Chamber at 205-274-2153.

Written by: Nicole Tolbert