An event on Friday will celebrate the memory and honor of those who have battled cancer and are hoping the community bands together for a cure.

From 6 p.m. to midnight on Friday, April 26, Relay for Lifeof Forsyth County will hold its annual fundraising event at the Cumming Fairgrounds to celebrate those who have dealt with cancer.

“It is a family and community event, and we’re expecting well over 300 in attendance,” said Rena Pendley, with the American Cancer Society. “It is open to the community, so you don’t have to be a part of a fundraising team or a team that is on site to actually come out and enjoy the event. We will be celebrating our cancer survivors and our caregivers in the community.”

After an opening ceremony, both survivors and caregivers will be honored with a walk.

“Each survivor gets a free commemorative Relay for Life T-shirt that’s purple, which commemorates all cancers,” Pendley said. “The survivors take that first lap. We invite the caregivers to join them on the second lap, so if you’ve ever been a caregiver or are currently a caregiver or have a survivor to take a lap with, we invite caregivers for the second lap.”

The event will also include a luminaria ceremony, where each person who has been affected by cancer will ignite a light. Luminarias will be available for purchase on site.

“When we have the ceremony, we will have a bagpiper that will be there to lead us all in our memory and honor lap,” Pendley said.

Along with the walks and ceremonies, there will also be booths set up by groups from local schools, churches, businesses and other members of the community. Those festivities will include raffles and lots of music.

“Our theme this year is ‘Banding Together for a Cure,’ so of course, that’s a music theme,” Pendley said. “We will have three stages … there is going to be a lot of good entertainment. The banding together theme is not just about music, but talking about Forsyth County banding together.”

For youngsters, there will be a kids’ zone with inflatables, steam engines and other attractions for kids, all of which will raise money toward childhood cancer research.

Events for teens will include a dance.

“The Glow Party is a fundraiser for Infusion Church, so they will be charging $5 admission,” Pendley said. “There will be a DJ and dancing in there for them, and of course, it will be a controlled atmosphere for them because it is youth of all ages.”

The event is open to the community and there is no admission charge.

More information is available at http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLCY19SER?pg=entry&fr_id=91387.