Granitefest is back and bigger in 2025
The largest Granitefest to date is planned for March 22 at Quarry Park in Granite Shoals. The community festival was canceled in 2024 due to timing and planning constraints, but, according to organizers, it is coming back bigger than ever this year.
Granitefest was originally branded as a community celebration when it was founded in 2019, but the city has plans to grow the event and open it to the wider Highland Lakes community.
“I think (Granite Shoals has) a great venue here (in Quarry Park), and these guys are great to work with,” Main Event Company owner Jay Brown told DailyTrib.com. “Getting more eyes on Granite Shoals is our number one goal, in a positive manner.”
The city is partnering with Main Event for this year’s Granitefest, which should include a classic car show, a petting zoo, live music, vendors, and a carnival, all capped off by a fireworks display at sundown. Admission will be free, but carnival rides and games will operate on a pay-to-play basis.
The event has featured a car show and live music in the past, but this year promises a full experience, something akin to Burnet’s Bluebonnet Festival, according to Brown.
He went on to say that the 131-acre Quarry Park at 2221 N. Phillips Ranch Road is more than capable of hosting a larger version of Granitefest.
“There’s so much acreage here,” he said. “It’s hungry for a festival like this.”
Major upgrades to Quarry Park done in 2023 to host the U.S. Junior Steer Wrestling Championships and visitors for the 2024 total solar eclipse created more parking and usable space.
According to Granite Shoals resident Preston Williams, who is working alongside Brown and city officials to organize Granitefest, it was a conscious decision to beef up the event and bring more people to the city.
“Today, moving forward, what we plan to put out there is going to be something big that we hope puts Quarry Park on the map,” he said. “Our city is like a rose that hasn’t opened up yet. We’re down here pushing water to it, making sure it gets open, and Quarry Park is going to be the key.”
Williams, Brown, and Granite Shoals Marketing Specialist David Frank are part of a committee tasked with organizing the 2025 festival. While the city is allowing the use of Quarry Park free of charge and providing minimal funding, the event will be almost totally dependent on sponsorships.
Granitefest has had a rocky history, with cancellations in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic precautions and in 2024 because of time constraints, but, according to Williams, the city is committed to solidifying the event as a staple festival in the Highland Lakes. It was held successfully in 2019, 2022, and 2023.
“For us, this is front and center. We are going to do the absolute best we can,” Williams said.