Driving along University Avenue between Missississippi State University’s campus and Nash Street will be futile this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The stretch of asphalt usually occupied by automobiles, bikers and dog walkers will instead be filled with the Cotton District Arts Festival. Tents will unfold, music will cascade from stages, food will sputter and steam and artisans from throughout the southeast will be display and sell their handmade artwork.
Everything sold at the festival, from artwork to plates of food, comes directly from the hands that crafted it. Suzy Turner, president of the Starkville Area Arts Council, said this rule is one unique aspect of the event – the festival only allows vendors to sell work they have created themselves.
“Everything associated with this event is original work. Anything you can buy in the booths, see in the juried arts show or find in Taste of Starkville -   that’s somebody’s work,” she said. “The people who sell it did it themselves.”
The festival is divided into areas called villages, based on what the space is dedicated to. These include the Artisan’s Village, Writer’s Village, International Village and Children’s Village.
Lori Burton, Artisan’s Village chair, said the artists exhibiting and selling work in the Artisan’s Village are required to complete a jury process, which keeps the quality of artwork in the festival high.
“We have them go through a jury process where they have to pass the selection process. That kind of guarantees what we have for sale is going to be quality, unique and original artwork,” she said.
Though the standard keeps the reputation of artwork in the festival good, the jury process does not hold restrictions on types of artwork exhibited in the festival. Burton said festival artists not only bring a large variety of offerings, but also come from a variety of cities and states in the southeast.
“We’ll have photography, graphic design, paintings, clay work, jewelry, gourd art, stained glass- – all kinds of different items for sale,” she said. “We have artists that come from all over. We have a large number form Mississippi, but we also have artisans from Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, a couple from Arkansas.”
Jude Landry, assistant professor of art and award-winning graphic designer, designed the festival’s 2010 promotional poster and has sold his own posters and T-shirts at the festival since 2011. He said, via email, that the festival allows not only opportunities to sell work as an artist, but to gain increased exposure in the area.
“It allows me to connect with people who are fans of mine, but also to find new, local supporters of the art that I do,” he said. “I have a strong online presence, but most people in North Mississippi probably don’t know about me or the work that I do here.”
Landry said the festival sheds light on local artisans and providing them with opportunities to display their high levels of expertise.
“It provides value to local, handcrafted arts and crafts. There are a lot of local people who are quality craftsmen and women,” he said. “These people put a lot of time, money and work into their craft.”
As well as an array of carefully crafted artwork, Turner said the festival offers local dishes through the Taste of Starkville event, multiple runs, including a 5K run and a fun run, a pet parade and music from multiple stages around the Cotton District.
Larry Wallace, entertainment chair of the festival, said on the West Stage and the East Stage, an artist will play every hour on the hour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Similar to the varying arts and crafts vendors will be selling, Wallace said the music emanating from the festival stages will include local acts and regional acts playing in many different styles.
“Many genres of music will be represented, from country to rock, gospel to folk, blues to bluegrass,” he said. “With so many genres represented at the Cotton District Arts Festival, you’re sure to enjoy the music.”
Wallace said the festival’s lineup includes 16 acts over the course of the day, one of the largest lineups in the festival’s history. He said his goal is to book high-quality entertainers without a weak link in the day’s tunes at either stage.
At the root of the festival, amidst the flurry of music, food, dancing and art, Burton said the event intends to bring exposure to and celebrate all the deserving and diverse forms of artwork flowing from Starkville.
“By the arts we mean all arts: the visual, the musical, the culinary arts,” she said. “It’s a celebration of all the arts. We also have the International Village, which has dance performances. Any type of art is really what we’re trying to promote within the community.”