Macon’s annual International Cherry Blossom Festival brought parades, parties and more to the city’s downtown, meaning more money and tourism for Macon’s local businesses.
Many of the festival’s events were held on parts of Cherry Street and Poplar Street and, though roads in front of businesses on those streets closed for long periods of time, businesses downtown continue to flourish year after year.
Since 2022, both visitation and economic impact from the festival increase yearly, according to Marisa Rodgers, the director of marketing for Visit Macon.
Last year, the festival saw 186,367 unique visitors, meaning that some people counted could have visited multiple events throughout the 10-day event. Of those visitors in 2024, 34.7% of attendees were from out of state, according to Rodgers.
These numbers are up from 2022 when the festival had 148,126 unique visitors and an economic impact of $3.3 million. Last year’s festival nearly doubled its economic impact on Macon, with an economic impact of around $6.1 million, according to Rodgers.
Ashley Pardington, the general manager for Fatty’s Pizza, a pizzeria located on Cherry Street, says she sees a large growth in sales numbers during the festival.
“We have a line out the door all day every day when we have the events downtown, so those really help us,” Pardington said.
This year, between March 22 and 23, Fatty’s Pizza saw a record high in festival sales since 2020, with around $7,000 dollars in inside sales and $1,200 in outside sales selling single slices of pizza, according to Pardington.
Fatty’s Pizza is not the only Cherry Street business that benefits from the festival each year.
William Rutledge, the owner of Fresh Produce Records, says he sees a marked increase in sales during the festival each year.
“It’s pretty considerable. I’d say at least a 20 to 30% increase across the board from our normal just daily averages,” Rutledge said.
While Visit Macon does not currently have the numbers for visitation and economic impact for the 2025 festival, Rodgers believes that due to the good weather and feedback received from Cherry Blossom Festival partners, this year’s festival will continue to break attendance records.
This story was originally published for The Macon Telegraph on April 2, 2025.
