The smell of fall drifted through Waldo City Square as families lined up for sweets, cars and games at the town’s first-ever Sweet Potato Festival and Car Show. What was once just a quiet pass-through on U.S. 301 transformed into a lively celebration Sept. 13, drawing locals and out-of-towners alike.
More than a celebration of just one root vegetable, the festival, with over 60 vendors, marked Waldo’s effort to embrace its agricultural heritage, honor a historic crop and spark new life in the small town, which has a population of just 877 per U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
The field behind what was once Waldo Community School was filled with rows of tents, offering jewel-toned jams in mason jars, hand-poured spiced candles, stacks of fresh pumpkin bread and sweet potato pies topped with candied pecans.
Festival goers could pick up cookbooks filled with local recipes like “sweet potato crunch” and “sweet potato and okra perloo,” each dish reflecting the many ways sweet potatoes have nourished both tables and traditions. Across the grass, classic Mustangs, Chevrolets and Fords gleamed under the day's clear sky, while their owners leaned against their hoods and chatted with anyone who would stop to listen.
Wendy Vivas, 52, helped organize the festival as a member of the Waldo Area Historical Society. Sweet potatoes carry a special significance, she said, dating back to early 20th-century farmer Thomas Kelly Godbey, whose experiments cemented the vegetable as a local staple.
“[He] did a whole lot a very long time ago here in Waldo,” Vivas said. “Sweet potatoes were something that were very special to him.”
Today’s entrepreneurs are carrying the torch in their own way, turning the crop and other goods into businesses. Some, like Laneshia Chaney, use locally grown produce and see the festival as a way to support farmers and share their craft.
The 42-year-old started her business, Jada Jam, out of Newberry for her daughter, who has an allergy to the citric acid used to preserve some store-bought jams. That challenge inspired her to create organic recipes and connect directly with local farms.
“It's really just [about] getting out there and connecting with the farmers,” Chaney said. “Having those conversations and seeing how can we partner and get their fruit off the farm and into the consumers any way we can.”
For many who don't live or work near Waldo, the 2.2-square-mile town goes unnoticed. But Laura Fonseco, a 26-year-old visiting from Gainesville, said the festival gave her a new impression of the place.
“It always just kind of felt like a transient little town, like you kind of just pass through it,” Fonseca said. Attending the sweet potato festival gave her a newfound appreciation of Waldo’s ties to agriculture and its local markets, she said.
Her husband, Ed Fonseca, 33, said he was glad to see the community moving towards growth. He recalled reading a substantial portion of Waldo’s revenue used to come from speeding tickets.
“It’s just a testament to how dire it was here economically,” Ed said. “[The festival] is certainly a positive step in the right direction.”
For longtime residents like Sarah Langley, 38, the shift is especially meaningful. She remembers a lively childhood in Waldo that faded once the younger children grew up and left.
Langley, who sold candles and wax melts, said the festival is a good reminder that Waldo is “still here.”
“It's nice to see the community bustling,” she said, “and small communities coming out to support each other to bring some life back to Waldo.”
While Langley was reminded of the festivals of her childhood, others saw the Sweet Potato Festival as the beginning of a new chapter for Waldo’s future.
Whitney Taylor Cruz is a member of the Waldo Community New Vision Coalition, which works alongside the Waldo Area Historical Society to put on exciting events and perform community service.
Taylor Cruz said her family’s ties to the town run generations deep. She and her family attended the school that used to be located at Waldo City Square, which is now the city hall.
The 33-year-old was filled with joy at the sight of people visiting her hometown, she said as she gestured to children bouncing around, playing carnival games and clamoring into construction vehicles.
“I'm excited seeing all the vendors, all the old friends, everybody walking around, communicating fellowship,” Taylor Cruz said.
She said she envisions the festival growing even larger in the years ahead.
“Let's do this, get Waldo back to life,” Taylor Cruz said.
Contact Lindee Walker at lwalker@alligator.org. Follow her on X @LindeeWalker
