Darius Goes West Day Returns for 8th Annual Festival

Athens residents will get a chance to celebrate Darius Goes West Day for three days during the annual festival this weekend.

Returning for its 8th year, Darius Goes West Day is hosting carnivals, poker tournaments, petting zoos and concerts to raise money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. The festival was started after the release of the award-winning "Darius Goes West" documentary, which followed Athens native Darius Weems and friends as they went on a cross country road-trip in an attempt to refurbish Weems' wheelchair on MTV's "Pimp My Ride."

Darius Goes West Headquarters Manager Barbara Smalley said in a press release the theme for this year's festival — "The 8th Wonder of the World" — came about because of the major struggles and changes Weems has weathered over the years.

Since his trip to California in 2005, Weems has participated in clinical trials for older boys with DMD with heart complications and signed a record deal with New South Entertainment. He has also outlasted his brother Mario, who also suffered from DMD, by three years.  Weems recently returned from a 30 day tour and has released three songs on iTunes. 

In keeping with the family friendly air of the festival, Smalley said the three-day event would include activities for children and adults alike. The festival will open Thursday night with "Casino For a Cure" at The Brass Rail on Mitchell Bridge Road, where attendees can participate in a poker tournament or play blackjack, roulette and three card poker. On Friday, Darius Goes West Day will put on a carnival night at , complete with a mechanical bull, water slide and barbeque from .

"We try to cover the gamut," she said. "Once you turn 21 we try to provide adult fun. The poker tournament and casino night is fun and more put there for the older crowd. And on Friday the carnival is all free except for the food and the drink. That started because the audience for the movie is basically middle, high school and on up. We started doing the carnival about four years ago. Now it's pretty huge I think last year we had about 600 people."

Smalley said this year there would also be an exotic petting zoo at the carnival for younger kids.

"We're going to have monkeys and a kangaroo and a mini donkey and a tortoise," she said. "It's kind of different kinds of animals. And camel rides for those who want to ride camels." 

On Saturday, the festival will close out with a screen of "Darius Goes West" at  and a concert featuring Big Daddy Weems.

"We have the concert and this year it's on the rooftop of the Georgia Theatre," she said. "And the main act is Darius, of course. We'll have some highschool kids who will be there helping out with the program, but I think those under 18 can come with an adult."

Saturday's concert will also include performances from local artist Elite Than ShowStoppa and Duddy Ken.

Those interested in attending the festival can go to www.dariusgoeswest.org for more information. Excluding the carnival, which is free, prices for the event vary from $5 - 30.

An earlier version of this story had a pricing mistake.

You might also be interested in:

Subscribe to the Athens Patch Newsletter, like us on Facebook, follow Athens Patch on Twitter.