Valdosta Festivals & Events

Valdosta hosts year-round events and festivals, the biggest of which is the annual Azalea Festival in spring. The city also offers a regular calendar of downtown events, including First Friday events and holiday celebrations and monthly makers markets.

The Turner Center for the Arts hosts a variety of art events and concert series throughout the year. Wild Adventures theme park has seasonal and holiday events plus occasional guest artist concerts.

The Crescent

This beautiful neoclassical-style historic home was built in 1898 for the US Senator William Stanley West. The house’s most distinctive feature is the striking two-story semi-circular portico for which it is named.

Saved from demolition in the 1950s, the house became the headquarters of Valdosta’s several garden clubs. It has since been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Several afternoons a week, tours are offered inside the home. Surrounding The Crescent are well-maintained gardens in which you can see experimental plantings and a quaint pair of little buildings, an octagonal schoolhouse and chapel.

The house is open for tours Wednesday-Friday, 1pm-4pm. $5 per person.

904 North Patterson Street, Valdosta, GA

Call 229-244-6747 or visit the official website for additional information.

Lowndes County Historical Society & Museum

This community museum, located inside the city’s 1913 Carnegie Library, provides a repository for a large collection of local artifacts and information about the history of Valdosta and Lowndes County.

Exhibit topics include Doc Holliday; the ill-fated circus elephant Gypsy; local industries; citizens’ experiences of the Civil War; items from the World Wars; and more.

Open Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm and Saturday, 10am-2pm. Admission is free.

305 West Central Avenue, Valdosta, GA

Call 229-247-4780 or visit the official website for additional information.

Turner Center For The Arts

The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts is a modern, airy regional art center providing art education and exhibit space for the city of Valdosta and adjacent south Georgia and north Florida counties.

The Turner Center hosts a series of rotating exhibitions, with up to 30 exhibits each year displaying works by regional and national artists across its several galleries. The permanent collection includes several hundred art works from East Africa and a smaller collection of antique European porcelain.

Free tours of the galleries are also available for individuals and groups by appointment. The center also offers art classes for adults and children and occasional talks on art-related topics.

A gift shop sells a selection of art works and craft items created by local people.

Galleries open Tuesday-Thursday, 10am-6pm and Friday-Saturday, 10am-4pm. Admission is free.

527 North Patterson Street, Valdosta, GA 31601

Call 229-247-2787 or visit the official website for additional information.

Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area

10 miles out of Valdosta is the peaceful, picturesque Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area, within which are thousands of acres of upland hardwood and pine forest and lowland cypress/gum swamp.

A half-mile fenced boardwalk through the swamp leads to a 54-foot observation tower offering great views over the forest and swamp. An additional 3-mile hiking trail leads through pine forest.

Within the reserve are four distinct ecosystems, with interpretive signs explaining the areas’s ecology. You might see alligators, turtles, snakes, lizards, otters, opossums, armadillos, and a variety of birds including herons, egrets and ibis, along with dozens of other species. In the summer season, water lilies in full flower cover the open areas of the swamp.

The Grand Bay Wetland Education Center (the boardwalk and tower, plus restrooms and a picnic area) is open on schooldays from 2pm and all day on weekends, holidays and through summer. Admission is free.

The WMA is open daily except during scheduled firearms hunts, when the trails are closed for safety. Parts of the WMA are closed periodically for military training exercises. A license is required to hunt or fish; a Georgia Lands Pass is required to use the WMA if you have neither.

4641-4649 Knight Academy Road, Valdosta, GA 31605

Call 229-426-5267 or visit the official website for additional information.

Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge

This strikingly beautiful cypress swamp and lake, 20 miles from Valdosta, is perfect for wildlife and nature photography, and also offers paddling, boating and fishing. A short nature trail passes through hardwood forest and cypress wetlands.

Kayak and canoe rentals, boat rentals and fishing tackle are available from the refuge concessionaire, Banks Lake Outdoors. Usual hours are 6am-4pm, but call (at 229-569-0147) before visiting.

Open daily, 24 hours. Admission is free.

307 GA Highway 122, Lakeland, GA 31635

Call 912-496-7836 or visit the official website for additional information.

Wild Adventures Theme Park

This combined theme park, water park and animal park outside of Valdosta offers a series of rollercoasters and other fairground-style rides, and bird and animal exhibits from around the world. Besides the waterpark (which is closed in the off-season), other attractions include a safari train, butterfly garden, games arcade, minigolf, animal shows and a petting zoo.

The park also hosts a series of special events throughout the year, plus summer concerts and other shows.

Open Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm and occasional Sundays. Adults $49.99, children (3-9) and seniors (55+) $44.99. Discount available for advance online purchase.

Call 229-219-7080 or visit the official website for additional information.

More Things To Do Near Valdosta, GA

– St Marys events
– Things to do in St Marys
– Nearby beaches
– St Simons Island kayaking

See also:
– Savannah events
– Georgia food festivals