VIDALIA, Ga. — What's your favorite vegetable? If yours are onions, you might be interested in this, but try not to cry.
The city of Vidalia is hosting its 47th Annual Onion Festival, and it's looking rather sweet for the city this year.
It started on Tuesday and goes through Sunday.
There's lots to do from onion ring eating contests and arts and crafts to air shows and carnivals.
Vidalia is a city known for its onions, especially during the springtime, and many say this is a sweet family tradition.
Alexa Britton is the executive director of the Vidalia Onion Festival.
"It's a nice boom for a small community," Britton said.
She says within the first two days, at least a couple thousand people have traveled to the festival, and she has seen a boost already to the local economy.
"I saw this week that people had bought tickets from Pittsburgh, California, Alabama, so we draw visitors from a lot of places," Britton said. "The economic impact is big and we see the difference every year in April."
Over at the Vidalia Regional Airport, the Mayor of Vidalia, Doug Roper, was enjoying time with his family and the community and watching the planes warm up for tomorrow's air show.
The famous U.S. Navy Blue Angels will also be taking flight, and he says he loves what the city has to offer.
"There's nothing like it," Roper said. "You go downtown today and it's packed with folks eating onion rings, shopping, going to vendors, just having a blast!"
Tarryn Washinger was at the festival with her grandson Samuel, and she says growing up in the area, her father would always talk about the history of onions.
Now, she is passing on the history to Samuel to keep the tradition going.
"I get to see friends and people that I hadn't seen in a long time because they're all coming together for this and it's good to catch up with people and meet new people," Washinger said. "The onions kind of bring everyone together and the Blue Angels which are always exciting but you can't go wrong with food and fun."
Catch the air show and the world-famous onion eating contest this Saturday and Sunday.
For more information, you can visit their website at www.VidaliaOnionFestival.com.