The hills above University Drive echoed the sounds of the Cotton District Arts Festival Saturday as thousands of people packed the streets below.
Cash register bells would have joined the cacophony had any vendors been using them, but the quiet whisper of rustling bills and the clinking jingle of change dropped into cash boxes was music to their ears.
With the sun shining and temperatures rising into the 80s, artisans, craftsmen and food vendors lined the streets. Should-to-shoulder foot traffic clogged the intersections while stages set up on Maxwell Street, University Drive, Muldrow Street and Page Avenue provided rock, blues, jazz and soul. Even bagpipes hummed throughout the Cotton District.
Money, and the people who would spend it, came from all over to participate in the scene. People like Joe and Kay Gibbs, of Brownsville, Tenn., whose children graduated from Mississippi State, were in town for Super Bulldog Weekend and decided to make their first visit to the Cotton District Arts Festival.
They had just arrived around 1 p.m. and had yet to make any purchases, but many others had opened their wallets by that time.
Dean Hall, of Eupora, had arrived on Maxwell Street at 5:45 a.m. to set up his hand-carved wooden spoon and utensil booth.
Last year, during his first turn as a vendor at Cotton District, Hall had trouble getting through the crowds to his designated spot. This year, his early start paid off with brisk business.
“Business has been great. It started out slow but it”s really picked up,” he said.
Nearby, Rebecca Swain, of Columbus, couldn”t get a break as the multitudes snatched up her unique photography, which utilized naturally occurring architectural and environmental elements which resemble letters arranged to spell words and names.
“We”d just love to eat our lunch or maybe go to the bathroom,” she said with a smile. “Almost everybody who”s stopped has bought. Very few people have just looked and walked on.”
Swain lucked up. This was her first year at Cotton District. Francis “Pistol” Martin, of Pensacola, Fla., on the other hand, has been selling his homemade toy guns at Cotton District for nine years. But his persistence paid off this year.
“This is probably the best year I”ve had. It”s been a great crowd. Probably bigger than I”ve ever seen,” he said.
Other artists were making moves in other ways. Hannah McCormick, 21, of Starkville, is an art major at Ole Miss. She had only sold one of her high-focus, representational portraits by noon Saturday, but had garnered several commissions for future work and was networking for more.
Although she”s a native Starkville artist, McCormick was making her first appearance at Cotton District.
“I”ve been putting it off for so long and decided to do it this year,” she said.
Jeremy Murdock, an Olive Branch transplant who”s been in Starkville 10 years, was selling photographs taken as he traveled the state for his work in community development. He”s watched the art festival steadily grow for the three years he”s participated as a vendor.
Businesses benefited from the growth as well.
The front patios of bars like Bin 612, Tabs and Ptolemy”s Taproom were crowded with patrons.
The food vendors were having a similarly prosperous day, selling $3 pieces of pizza or $4 smoothies to the festival-goers who were more than willing to part with their money to quiet their hunger or quench their thirst. Festival-goers carried barbecue and funnel cake through the crowd, exchanging hugs and handshakes as they bumped into old friends.
The sun and the heat conspired to benefit anyone selling drinks.
Local residents were equally pleased to see money freely changing hands, whether from natives or out-of-towners.
“As a local builder, I like having people come here. It makes people want to move to Starkville,” said Kane Overstreet, of Starkville, as his son, Paxton, 16 months, tranquilly rode on his shoulders in a shaded backpack. He also had his wife, Katey, and his oldest son, Camp, 4, in tow.
Sonia Blunt was one of those out-of-towners. Kind of.
Blunt, a Starkville native, has made her home in Tuscaloosa, Ala., for years but returns home each year for Cotton District. She brought her daughter Alexie Blunt, 13, and her son, Natdrick Jones, 5, along to experience the festival.
“Each year it expands to have more activities. It gets better, especially as far as entertainment,” she said.
This year, Cotton District hosted a poetry slam, martial arts exhibition, face painting and a drum circle. The World Neighbors Association sponsored a display of native dance and foreign culture presentations at the International Village. And children drew chalk murals on the pavement as parents took photos.
The Cotton District Arts Festival took place as part of Mississippi State”s Super Bulldog Weekend, which included multiple sporting events, a pig-cooking contest and the Old Main Music Fest Saturday night.
Staff Writer Tim Pratt contributed to this story.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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