OUR HISTORY

The Rich History of Festival Hall

In 2006, the Greene County Board of Commissioners deeded the Festival Hall building to the City of Greensboro’s Downtown Development Authority for the creation of a cultural center.

Festival Hall’s history begins well before 2006: located in the heart of downtown Greensboro, Georgia, Festival Hall was originally the city’s auditorium. The building was constructed in 1939 by the Federal Works Agency as a Public Works Administration project. The building housed a basketball court, wooden bleachers, and a stage that were used for multi-purpose functions for Greensboro High School until 1976. The Greensboro Auditorium functioned as a school gymnasium and auditorium, and also as a central gathering space for community events.

In the 1980’s through early 2000’s, the building served as Greene County offices and storage. During this period, the building progressively deteriorated and did not live up to its full potential or original purpose.

The dream to acquire and transform the auditorium began with a group of passionate Greensboro residents and organizations. They collectively solicited the Greene County Board of Commissioners to designate the building as Greene County’s official cultural arts center.

An extensive $2.5 million dollar renovation of Festival Hall was achieved through the combined efforts of local businesses, government, local civic groups and citizens. The funding partners of Festival Hall include the City of Greensboro, Greensboro Downtown Development Authority, Greene County, Reynolds Lake Oconee, the Oconee Performing Arts Society (OPAS), and the OneGeorgia Authority.