By Friday afternoon, the streets of downtown Columbus will be transformed into a showcase for the arts as the 17th annual Market Street Festival gets underway.
Festivities will begin at 7 p.m., but some streets around the festival area will be closed as early as 6 a.m. Friday and will remain closed until Sunday.
Main Street will be closed at 6 a.m. Friday from Third Street to Sixth Street. Fifth Street traffic will be allowed to cross Main Street until 3 p.m. Friday. Parking lots behind J. Broussard’s, Beard’s Antiques, the U.S. Post Office and The Tennessee Williams Welcome Center will close at 3 p.m. Friday.
Musical talent headlining this year’s festival includes a mixture of style, from the New Orleans, La.-based funk-flavored Mingo Fishtrap, Friday at 7:30 p.m., to the blues-infused rock of Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real, following at 9:30 p.m.
Friday night tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance or at the gate.
Saturday will be an action-packed day, with events scheduled downtown, as well as a free concert at the Columbus Riverwalk Saturday night, featuring Deacon Jones and the Late Night, Mark “Muleman” Massey, Eden Brent and Jimbo Mathis and the Tri- State Coalition.
Kick off the day at 7 a.m. with the Kiwanis Club pancake breakfast at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Tickets are $5 per person.
Daytime headliners downtown will include Charlie Burgin and the Southbound Train, Swingshift, Hartle Road (formerly The Motions), The Otherside, Larry Cantrell and the Bull Mountain Band, Star and Micey, Stephanine Jackson, Hayden Allen, Katie, Brady and Joe, Avenue Rhodes and Kelsey Collins.
There will be a number of activities to keep children entertained, including visits with the ever-popular Mother Goose, an ice cream eating contest, a dunking booth, romps and tumbles in inflatables, a petting zoo, pony rides, water balloons, trampolines, bungee-jumping, a video game trailer and Zumba.
Special children’s activities this year include a smorgasbord of hands-on events. The Pushmataha Council of the Boy Scouts of America will demonstrate outdoor skills, like rope making, wood carving and knot-tying.
The Columbus Fire Department and Mississippi Highway Patrol’s motorcycle demonstration team will offer children’s safety demonstrations and local businesses will sponsor a hands-on marketplace, allowing children to participate in a number of crafts projects.
Automobile and machinery enthusiasts will also find plenty to see, from hot rods to antique cars to new vehicles and the latest in tractors and lawn mowers.
This year’s juried arts exhibit will be on display at Rosenzweig Arts Center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. In addition, wares, demonstrations and free goodies will be available from more than 100 vendors and many downtown shops will be open, offering in-store promotions and special sales.
A new arts showcase will be offered this year in the form of “Painted Privvies” — portable toilets decorated by local artisans and situated beside the Columbus Arts Council. Artists garnering the most votes for their design will be designated the “People’s Favorite Privy Artist” and will win $500. Votes will be accepted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Arts Council.
Food of every kind will be sold, from the standard festival fare — funnel cakes, Italian ice, gyros, pizza, hotdogs, hamburgers, Polish sausage and blooming onions — to the less ordinary. If you’ve ever wanted to try fried Oreos, fried Twinkies or a fried Snickers bar, here’s your chance. There will also be a number of treats with Cajun flair, including fried alligator, crawfish, alligator on a stick and garbage can gumbo.
For a full schedule, along with street closings, please visit marketstreetfestival.com or the Market Street Guide in Friday’s Dispatch.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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