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Ovations365.com 56 l MACON MAGAZINE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013 Specialty Wines & Gifts 3090 Vineville Ave 478.745.7735 Join our Wine Club! • Monthly Wine Tastings, 3rd Tuesday of the month, 6-8 pm • Join us at "Vindulge" our monthly wine education class We also have Riedel wine glasses available for purchase! A Different Twist "is year's festival will have some of the same events we've had in the past but a little different twist to a couple of things," Ferro said. is includes the Bed Race on March 16, which features local groups racing beds through downtown. "is year we're adding … a category called the 'Wild and Wacky' so people who want to make a bed or build a bed that is shaped like a hotdog or whatever, something goofy, they can do it," Ferro said. e parade on March 17 will be at 3:30 p.m., instead of the usual 3 p.m. "It's Saint Patrick's Day, so we're trying to incorporate a little bit of St. Patrick's celebration into it as well as international flavor by utilizing some groups and various entries into the parade that will make it more international," Ferro said. Central City Park also will come to life opening weekend with amusement rides, concerts, vendors and other fair-like activities. "We've got a bunch of wonderful activities out at Central City Park," Ferro said. "e famed tiger show is coming back … that is exciting. Everybody loves the tigers." e first weekend also marks a number of VIP events in which dignitaries from other countries and Georgia are on hand to kick things off and enjoy some Southern hospitality. Invitations have been extended to Macon's sister cities in Taiwan, France, Russia, Japan and Ghana, as well as the festival's legacy nations of Japan, Taiwan and England. Ferro said France is this year's featured nation. Weekday Highlights As Cherry Blossom moves into the week, ird Street Park will be back with ice cream, carriage rides and music. e concerts also continue nightly at Central City Park. Other weekday highlights include an author's luncheon, a fashion Show and Broadway in Bloom, a cabaret-style dinner at the Armory Ballroom. e final weekend of Cherry Blossom will mean the return of the street party and the food fair, which is being fine-tuned a bit for 2013. "In the past, it's been called the International Food Fair," Ferro said. "is year we're trying something a little