Months of planning will come to fruition Friday evening as the annual Spalding County Relay for Life takes place at the Spalding High School track.

“The festivities kick off at 7 p.m. with the survivors’ walk and is immediately followed by the survivors’-caregivers’ walk,” said Dana Helms, Spalding County Relay for Life co-chairman. “The highlights of the night are pretty equal — the survivors’ walk and the luminary ceremony at 9:30 p.m. It’s very emotional.”

The luminary ceremony is particularly touching as luminaries surrounding the track will be lit in honor of those who have survived the battle against cancer, and in memory of those lost to the disease.

The evening will also feature numerous activities to entertain the crowd such as musical and dance performances, a Zumbathon and the Ms. Relay pageant.

Additional games that will continue throughout the night include the bucket brigade, a hula hoop contest, balloon wars, cracker whistling, an egg relay, bingo, a jump-rope contest, walking stilts contest and banana Olympics.

“We actually have 48 teams, as of Tuesday night, registered to participate, and each team will have a fund-raiser at their tent. That’s a phenomenal number of teams — I think that’s the most we’ve ever had. People have really stepped up to the plate,” Helms said. “This is a really great community event. We have bands from all over who come out to perform and we have games and activities for all ages. There’s all kinds of food to eat and all kinds of vendors. Even if you aren’t involved in Relay or if your life hasn’t been affected by cancer, it’s just a really wonderful community event for everyone.”