This August, plan to call family members and former friends and invite them all to come home — Athens is having a party.

On Aug. 20 and 21, Athens will host a Hometown Homecoming when the state celebrates the Year of Alabama Small Towns and Downtowns.

More than 210 cities will participate, including Huntsville, Decatur and Florence, hosting family friendly events to draw people back to Sweet Home Alabama. The only other town in Limestone County to participate will be Mooresville, which will host its homecoming Dec. 4.

Local Tourism Director Jeanette Dunnavant said plans have been ongoing for about a year for the Athens event, which will be sponsored by the Greater Limestone County Chamber of Commerce, Spirit of Athens, City of Athens and Limestone County.

“We’re going to kick it off with Singing on the Square Friday night and then have all-day activities on Aug. 21,” she said.

Singing on the Square, a monthly vent that has been ongoing for the past few summers, will also include a dance under the stars that night, she said.

Educational walks through local historic districts will be offered on Saturday, she said.

An agenda is not finalized, and Dunnavant said plans will begin in earnest next week.

“We’ll maybe work with local restaurants to do box lunches so people can have picnics,” she said. “We’ll get all the merchants involved. We plan to bring back some of the older things. We might get people to dress up in period costume and stroll the square. We might have a bicycle ride to come to the square and offer horse-and-buggy rides.”

In addition, organizers hope to interview longtime residents and record memories, as well as gather historic photos, to create a video documentary.

Also on Aug. 21, a new marker telling the history of the city will be unveiled. Its placement has not been determined but Dunnavant said if the City Council votes to rent the renovated domino hall to the Chamber of Commerce for a welcome center, its lawn would be an appropriate place for a marker.

Dunnavant said local residents will be given invitations to send to family members and former residents, inviting them to return to Athens for the weekend.

“We think it’s going to be a fun time,” she said.

Homecoming celebrations in other area cities include:

• Birmingham, Aug. 18, Centennial Celebration of Rickwood Field;

• Cullman, May 14-15, Strawberry Days at the Market;

• Decatur, Sept. 17-18, Riverfest Homecoming Weekend;

• Eva, Sept. 18-25, Eva Frontier Days;

• Falkville, Oct. 30, Falkville Fall Festival;

• Florence, June 5-6, Frontier Days;

• Guntersville, July 2-4, Celebrate Guntersville;

• Hartselle, Sept. 18, Depot Days Festival;

• Huntsville, Sept. 8, 50th Anniversary of Marshall Flight Center;

• Killen, Aug. 27-28, Killen Founder’s Day;

• Madison, Oct. 2, Come Home to Madison;

• Muscle Shoals, Oct. 2-3, Muscle Shoals Music City Fest;

• Priceville, Aug. 21, Priceville Annual Cruise-In;

• Rogersville, June 5, Rogersville Heritage Homecoming;

• Somerville, May 1, Somerville Celebration Festival;

• Tuscumbia, June 23-27, Helen Keller Festival.

For more details, call 1-800-Alabama and request a free Calendar of Events or visit www.alabama.travel.