STARKVILLE — The Starkville Area Arts Council will be hosting the Cotton District Arts Festival and Taste of Starkville on Saturday.
This will be the group’s second festival since returning from a COVID-19 hiatus.
The event has a full day of activities slated.
“Right now we plan to have around 100 artisan vendors and around 20 Taste of Starkville food vendors,” said Juliette Reid, program coordinator for SAAC. “We’ve got three live music stages all day. We’ve got the juried arts show in the visual arts center. We’ve got the children’s village, hosted by Starkville Strong. We’ve got the international village, hosted by the World Neighbor Association. It has different cultural acts. We’ve got the south stage with different community acts, with the headliner, hopefully at 4 p.m., The Disco Stranglers. In the writer’s village, Read to Succeed will be passing out free books for kids and it will have some other kids activities.”
The Taste of Starkville vendors will also have a diverse selection of food.
“No one is doing the same thing,” she said. “There’s something for everyone.”
The annual Pawrade pet parade is set for Saturday afternoon.
This year, however, it will happen in conjunction with the Howl-O-Ween event in Fire Station Park. The event raises money for the Oktibbeha County Humane Society. Howl-O-Ween is separate from CDAF, but the Pawrade is part of the festival. There are prizes available as well.
Registration starts at 3:30 p.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church. The parade begins at 4:30 p.m. All pets must be on leashes. Registration is $1 for everyone 10 and under, and $2 for everyone 11 and over.
“We are looking forward to the Pawrade and hopefully we’ll have a bunch of four-legged babies show up,” said Cindy Brown, the coordinator of the parade and Howl-O-Ween this year.
However, weather may be a factor for all scheduled events.
“We are in full weather mode,” Reid said. “We are trying to make sure that everything is safe. (We want to make sure) we have a rollout plan, that we’re communicating to the committee, the artisans, the vendors, the musicians, everyone involved. If anything dramatic occurs, those people will be notified first and then the public afterward.”
However, the festival is expected to continue at the moment.
Reid encouraged people to come out and have a good time.
“I would just say bring an umbrella and have a great time,” she said.
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