The annual Vidalia Onion Festival, held each spring in late April, is the city's biggest event and the best reason to time a visit. The multi-day festival includes onion-cooking competitions, live music across several stages, arts and crafts vendors, carnival rides, and a parade.
Cooking competitions are the centrepiece: competitors from across the region demonstrate techniques for getting the most out of the mild, sweet onion. The festival has run since 1977 and draws visitors from beyond Georgia. If you are passing through on US 280 during festival week, it is worth stopping.