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ABOVE A still from Macon Beyond, the macabre- themed series from Big Hair starring Carrie Genzel. Photo courtesy of Big Hair Productions. LEFT The Macon Music series has just won a Golden Telly Award. Participants to the kazoo record attempt enjoy the Atrium Health Amphitheater. Visit Macon helps lure in athletic events, too. Legendary Luther Williams Field, which has been used several baseball-related movies, recently hosted a weekend tournament for the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship, which was won by Albany State over Savannah State. The visitors center also offers training through its ambassador's program, I AM Macon. Its purpose is to help local business employees better assist and engage with tourists. The center's building in the heart of Downtown Macon has a distinctive keyboard motif across the top. The building itself is interesting, with several exhibits, a gift shop, and even a small theater, which features a short video about Macon, with posters of movies, filmed or partially filmed in the city. Staff there will help you book your stay or tell you where to go dance the night away. If you're here for one of the attractions or festivals above, they might convince you to linger longer by telling you about another special place. With so many differentiated programs and points of interest, even if some are a swing and a miss, the team knows they'll eventually hit the right note. help in its mission. Rock Candy Tours was recently bought from Jessica Walden and Jamie Weatherford, transporting tourists to well-known historic sites. Those tours are conducted in colorful vehicles, taking travelers to places like The Big House, now a museum but once a home where the Allman Brothers Band lived and recorded music (see more on page 86), the 100+ year old historic Douglass Theatre, and more. Visit Macon also recently purchased radio station 100.9 The Creek, which offers American roots music programming. For live music, they sponsor the Macon Music Revue every Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. at Grant's Lounge on Poplar Street, a nod to The Allman Brothers, Tom Petty, and many music legends that have passed through and played there. The Visitor Center continues to promote other events in the year. In October, a Halloween push occurs. Besides an annual "Thriller" dance, they also sponsor a "Witches Float" that travels down the Ocmulgee River with costumed celebrants. The spooky-spangled publicity includes "Macon Beyond," another set of Big Hair short videos which highlights venues like the 1842 Inn, derailing otherworldly happenings that have occurred in those places in the past. One such tidbit: a ghostly presence of a little girl seen frequently at the inn by guests and staff alike. "The Visit Macon marketing team has really taken a unique approach," Walker said. "I believe the approach they've taken over the past few years is one of the main reasons Macon is now finding itself mentioned in national media as a 'not to miss destination' on a regular basis." Other venues the visitor's center promotes include the new 10,000-seat Atrium Health Amphitheater on Eisenhower Parkway. Now in its second season, the outdoor venue has already hosted many chart- topping acts, bringing in over 100,000 guests. It was also the site of a recent attempt by Visit Macon to set a Guinness World Record for the world's largest kazoo ensemble, inspired by the tall tale that the instrument was invented in Macon. Visit Macon ordered thousands of plastic kazoos and called in the media. The fun-filled event, featuring comedian Ian Karmel and "The Kazoo Kid" Brett Ambler, fell a few thousand participants short of the current record set at London's Royal Albert Hall, but did raise some money for charity. June/July 2025 | maconmagazine.com 39 The "Macon Music" series just won Gold at the 46th season of The Telly Awards. Watch this and the other award-winning video series by Big Hair Productions at visitmacon.org