Red Poppy Festival in Georgetown celebrates red poppy season

GEORGETOWN, Texas - The streets of Georgetown Town Square will be bustling for the 22nd annual Red Poppy Festival. It's a celebration of red poppy season with family-friendly activities, live music, a car show, a parade, and much more.

You can get the full schedule of the festival and more information here.

The event kicks off Friday, April 22 with artisan booths and food courts opening at 6 p.m. before a kick-off concert featuring Dysfunkshun Junkshun.

Saturday, April 23 is jam-packed starting with the Poppy Parade and Car Show and then a full schedule of live music culminating with performances by Peterson Brothers, Chris Knight, and Rodney Atkins.

The festival wraps up on Sunday, April 24 with a pet parade, more live music, and a cornhole tournament.

Georgetown was certified by local residents and the Texas Legislature as the "Red Poppy Capital of Texas" on April 25, 1990. 

Seeds from poppies in Europe were sent to Georgetown after World Word I. Henry Purl Compton (known as "Okra") who served in the American Expeditionary Forces sent the seeds to his mother. She planted them at her home which is now 507 East 7th Street. From there, they were spread (by birds, bees, and people!) down the river and over much of Old Town.

Red poppies now grow naturally in street and highway right-of-ways, in vacant lots and parks lands, and in native and cultivated areas of people's yards. Georgetown is reportedly one of a few locations in the U.S. where red poppies reseed themselves from year to year.