COVINGTON, Ga. — “Our Roots, Our Future,” the March 5-7 Daffodil Festival and Symposium on the Georgia State University Newton Campus, will spotlight influencers in the Southeast and the community.

Speakers include Jenny McDonald, Covington/Newton County film commissioner; David Cheshier, director of Georgia State’s University Creative Media Industries Institute; Mathew Hauer with the Institute of Government Applied Demography at the University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government and Greg Bluestein, Atlanta Journal Constitution “Political Insider” columnist.

The annual festival kicks off at 11:30 a.m. March 5 with a welcome from Dr. Peter Lyons, vice provost and dean of Georgia State University’s Perimeter College.

Students will display posters of and talk about their local heroes, with presentations highlighting personal heroes from the community. The event also will feature the presentation of the Daffodil Scholarship, which is a $500 scholarship awarded annually to a full-time Newton student who is active in community service and has a 2.5 GPA or higher.

Monday activities also include Covington storyteller Andy Offett Irwin at 1 p.m., followed by open mic poetry readings from students, faculty and staff.

On March 6, events begin at 10 a.m. with UGA’s Mathew Hauer and “The Changing Demographics of Georgia. At 11:30 a.m., Ross Bradley of Covington restaurant Your Pie will talk about his entrepreneurial journey in “Living the American Dream.” At 1 p.m. the students of professor Julie Langley’s Media, Culture and Society class will present their findings in the discussion, “How Media Has Shaped Our Lives and Future.” At 2:30 p.m. Dr. Dan Paschal, Newton chemistry professor, will present a scientific and fun look at the namesake of the festival in “Chemical and Physical Protection Mechanisms and Methods of Plants – Or, How I Convinced Myself to Quit Eating Daffodils.”

On March 7, Greg Bluestein of the AJC will kick off events at 10 a.m., followed by “On Location: Creative Careers in Georgia,” with David Cheshier, director of Georgia State’s Creative Media Industries Institute, and Jenny McDonald, Newton County’s film commissioner.

The festival is free and open to the public. All presentations will be in the auditorium and atrium of Building 2N. Refreshments will be served. The Georgia State University Newton Campus is at 239 Cedar Lane in Covington.

For information, contact festival coordinator Linda Bowen at lbowen5@gsu.edu