After three years of music, food and fun, the Johnny Cash Flower Pickin” Festival will not return this fall.
Festival organizer Robbie Ward on Thursday announced the event will not take place this year due to financial, promotional and time constraints. However, Ward would not rule out bringing the festival back to Starkville in the future.
“I”m not going to say it”s dead,” he said. “If I”m going to say anything, I”ll say it might be hibernating right now.”
Cash was arrested for public drunkenness in Starkville the night of May 10, 1965, following a concert at Mississippi State University, but claimed he was only “picking flowers.” He later wrote a song about the ordeal called “Starkville City Jail.”
Of the seven times Cash was arrested in his life, he only wrote a song about the incident in Starkville.
Ward came up with the idea for the Johnny Cash Flower Pickin” Festival when he was covering the Starkville beat for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. He was able to track down a man who was in jail with Cash the night he was arrested and still had a pair of shoes the Man in Black gave him as a souvenir.
The fact that Starkville wasn”t embracing its chapter in the life of one of the world”s most famous musicians baffled Ward. Shortly thereafter, the idea for the festival was born.
Celebrating community
“The whole idea behind the project involved celebrating a very unique part of this community,” he said.
Ward has always said the festival wasn”t a celebration of Cash”s arrest for public drunkenness. It was a celebration of Cash”s “redemption” and ability to overcome his substance abuse problems.
“To have taken something that for many years existed only as an idea and turn it into something thousands of people have enjoyed and appreciated means a lot,” Ward said. “Having developed many, many relationships with special people in Starkville and other parts of the world has been an incredible experience.”
During the festival”s three-year run, performers included Rosanne Cash, Marty Stuart, Carlene Carter, Billy Joe Shaver, Justin Townes Earle, Kathy Cash Tittle, Joanne Cash and former Cash band musician Marshall Grant.
Change of venue
The event was held on Main Street in 2007 and 2008, but moved to Rick”s Cafe Americain in 2009. The move resulted in sparse crowds.
While on Main Street, the event drew 4,000-5,000 people a year. Ward estimated about 1,000 attended the festival in 2009 at Rick”s Cafe.
The decision to cancel this year”s festival was difficult for Ward. On top of financial and time constraints, he had to deal with the illness of his mother, Sue, who died last week.
Kathy Cash Tittle, the second oldest of Cash”s four daughters, has helped Ward plan the festival since its inception and said she encouraged him to cancel the event this year after hearing about the condition of his mother. She went through similar emotional times when her parents became sick and passed away.
On the ”backburner”
“I really encouraged him to not do the festival when he mentioned possibly not having it because I felt it was a lot more important to spend time with your loved ones while you have it and not have regrets later,” she said. “I encouraged him to take care of his family and be where he needs to be and put (the festival) on the backburner.”
Being a lifelong Johnny Cash fan, Ward mentioned the Man in Black during his mother”s eulogy and did so again on Thursday.
“I envision when my mother reached heaven, she got her wings, took a few steps on the clouds and went and sat down and listened to Johnny Cash play ”A Boy Named Sue,”” he said.
It was hard to cancel the festival, Ward acknowledged, because he worked so hard to bring it to life. But he feels good about what he contributed.
Hope for the future
“This is by far one of the most fulfilling, rewarding projects I have ever been a part of,” Ward said.
Cash Tittle said she embraced the idea for the Johnny Cash Flower Pickin” Festival, during which city officials gave symbolic pardons to Cash”s family in 2007 and 2008 and the family pardoned the city in 2009, for a host of reasons.
“First, it was unusual that (Ward) made it about redemption and forgiveness and that”s pretty much what dad was all about,” she said. “Another thing, it was a fun concept. It was humorous to the point that dad was. And it was in the middle of the South and it was something fun for people to do. It was a family festival. It was interesting. There were a lot things that I liked about it.”
Cash Tittle hopes to see the festival return in the future.
“There”s always next year or the year after,” she said. “It”s not over. It”s just taking a vacation.”
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 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
