The Cotton District will be buzzing Saturday as the 2008 Cotton District Arts Festival springs into life. Sponsored by the Starkville Area Arts Council, the festival will highlight fine arts, literature and physical arts.
Patrons will be able to read samples of dramatic writings in the new Chaucer’s Literary Village and experience martial arts and a 5k run in Phiddipede’s Physical Health Village. There will also be a Celtic Village and the Canus Major Village for dog lovers.
This year’s festival will also include a Sweet Tea Contest. Teas ranging from commercial to homemade can be sampled, with a variety of prizes going to the winning teas.
Arts council board of directors member and participant Candy Crecink said she anticipated that the festival will be phenomenal.
“We’re trying to include everyone,” Crecink said. “Our main goal is to make people knowledgeable of art and how it encompasses us.”
Crecink went on to say this year will mark the 13th year Starkville Area Arts Council has celebrated art in the Cotton District.
“It has been 13 years, and it just keeps getting better,” Crecink said.
This year’s noteworthy attractions include the Pet Parade, which will begin at 9 a.m. The parade is not limited to dogs, Crecink said, but for all animals that participants call pets.
Sophomore physical education major Klancey Phillips said she was impressed when she heard about the variety of attractions this year.
“Usually, when you think art, it is limited to painting and drawing. I like how the Starkville community has extended that beyond traditional realms,” Phillips said. “I really enjoy going to the arts festival every year. It’s a time for local artists to show off their work, and for lots of people to get involved.”
Senior physical education major Jarred Hutto said creativity can take many forms.
“I think art is anything that takes creativity and makes people think,” Hutto said. “Without creativity, art has no meaning.”
However, the main focus of the Cotton District Arts Festival is to bring a variety of people together in admiration of the aesthetic beauty of unity, which freshman architecture major Martin Galnares said he believes this is an important aspect in a community.
“Unity is what I think about the most,” Galnares said. “Something that appeals to everyone is what I consider art.”
The Canus Major Village will host the Bully Arts Auction which will allow interaction between the artists and their audience.
Students ranging from elementary school to college decorated the 65 miniature concrete bulldogs which will be on display during the event.
Following the day’s festivities each uniquely designed bulldog will be auctioned off.
The theme of the decorated bulldogs will focus on the MSU Liberty Bowl victory, and they symbolize the diversity seen in many art mediums today.
The council expects between 15,000 and 18,000 visitors this year, an increase from last year’s turnout.
“It gets better every year,” Crecink said. “this year is no exception.