GRAND BAY, Ala. (WALA) – The Grand Bay Watermelon Festival is back for its 52nd year at Odd Fellows Festival Park, offering free sliced watermelon, fireworks, and family activities over the Fourth of July holiday.
Sessions Farm is again supplying watermelons for the festival. A role that nearly fell through this year due to extreme weather conditions.
Drought and rain threatened this year’s crop
Art Sessions of Sessions Farm said the region endured one of the worst droughts in recent memory, with dry conditions persisting through the beginning of May. When the melons were approaching maturity, heavy daily rainfall set in, creating a second challenge for growers.
“Well, we just went through one of the biggest droughts in history. Of course, we irrigate everything, but still, all the way up to the first of May. And then when the metals were about to get ready, it started raining every day, every day. And watermelons need water, but they don’t need that much water. We have one area. We’ve just been lucky or blessed. I don’t know,” Sessions said.
Neighboring Mississippi growers were not as fortunate
While Sessions Farm managed to salvage its crop, growers across the state line were not as fortunate. Sessions said watermelon farmers in Jackson County and George County, Mississippi, suffered significant losses…