As director of Main Street and Tourism with the West Point/Clay County Community Growth Alliance, Lisa Klutts — plus an army of volunteers and city services — are up to the elbows in prep for the 39th annual Prairie Arts Festival. West Point will swell in population Sept. 2 as thousands flock downtown to the annual fest named one of the South’s Top Ten Events since 1979.
Held the Saturday before Labor Day each year, Prairie Arts boasts more than 300 vendors of fine arts, handmade crafts and Southern cooking from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Additional highlights include live music, Kid’s Town, a 5K and more. In tandem with the Black Prairie Blues Festival the night of Sept. 1, the entire weekend is a big Clay County draw for visitors and locals alike.
“We don’t necessarily look for ways to get ‘bigger and better,’ we look for ways to be different every year so there’s something new to expect, bringing you back year after year,” Klutts said of Prairie Arts.
One innovation will be having food trucks in downtown West Point on Friday as vendors and downtown workers set up for the festival.
“The big food tent will already be up so people can come and sit and eat in the middle of the action,” Klutts said. “This has been requested for a couple of years; people just want to be part of the atmosphere, that feeling in the air, anticipation of another Prairie Arts Festival.”
The car show is back this year, Klutts noted. Southern Cruisers Car Club presents the show from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Mossy Oak Outlet on Highway 45 Alternate.
“And we officially have a new website, prairieartsfestival.org. You can find all kinds of information about the festival — vendor information, map locations, pictures and the music lineup.”
Klutts added, “The goal is to always bring the best vendors with the best quality and selection of art to the festival.”
For more information about Prairie Arts, sponsored in part by Visit Mississippi, go to the website, follow the festival on Facebook, email [email protected], or contact the Growth Alliance at 662-494-5121.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.