Suffolk News-Herald

The upwards of 10,000 people expected to descend upon Driver this weekend will find that the village’s 10th annual fall festival, Driver Days, is bigger and better than ever before.

Visitors to the tiny northern Suffolk village will find several first-time additions to the festival, including a parade and visits by two nationally known entertainers, say organizers.

Driver Days will kick off at 10 a.m. Saturday with a 32-unit parade down the village’s main thoroughfares, said Pam Gizara, parade coordinator. Several area fire departments, clowns, gymnasts and musicians will be among those participating in the fun-filled procession.

But the star of the parade will be Ben Jones – better known simply as Cooter to fans of the long-running 1970s show, The Dukes of Hazard&uot; – and the show’s famous souped-up orange car, the General Lee.

Jones, whose grandparents lived in Driver until the mid-1950s, will be at the festival all day Saturday. He will be signing autographs that afternoon.

National recording artist, Robbin Thompson, a Richmond native, will take center stage on Sunday. Thompson has had several hits, including &uot;Candy-Apple Red,&uot; &uot;Bright Eyes,&uot; and &uot;Sweet Virginia Breeze,&uot; and has performed with the likes of Bruce Hornsby, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

Festival-goers will find the usual array of activities throughout the weekend, including crafts, a motorcycle show, classic car show, western town & cowboy gunfights, Civil War Re-enactment Camp, Korean Mash Unit, petting zoo, and horse-drawn wagon rides.

&uot;It’s going to be lot of fun,&uot; said Gizara. &uot;Every year, the festival just gets better.&uot;

Hours for Driver Days are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.