For the first time, the Starkville Main Street Association of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership will host the annual Holiday Bazaar Dec. 1-3.
While formerly under the direction of the Mississippi State University Campus Activities Board, the event, which served as a fundraiser for the organization, had been previously held in the Colvard Student Union and Sanderson Center on campus.
Jennifer Gregory, GSDP vice president for Tourism Development and Starkville Main Street manager, said the Starkville Sportsplex located on Lynn Lane was considered a more suitable location for the event.
She said in addition to being conveniently located within reasonable driving and walking distance to MSU, the Sportsplex will provide an ample amount of parking space. The building also has a larger floor plan, allowing participating vendors more space to set up their individual booths.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Starkville Main Street Association.
Dejanae Banks, former Student Director for CAB, said the sponsorship of this entirely student-run event was a major undertaking for those individuals involved in the process.
“The bazaar takes place right around final exams. The students would have to manage their time in order to study and perform the great amount of labor that is required in order to prepare for the event.
So, this became a stressful situation because we wanted to give our all to both [studies and the Bazaar],” Banks said.
Gregory, responsible for organizing the bazaar, said due to the timing predicament, CAB contacted her this past summer to see if the Partnership would be interested in hosting the occasion this year and in the future.
She also said there will not be very many changes to the overall event this year.
“We were thrilled to be offered this opportunity. CAB did a really great job with the event over the last 37 years, so we just want to build on its successes by providing additional efforts to help the event as a whole,” Gregory said.
Open for shoppers from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Dec. 1 and 2 and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Dec. 3, the bazaar will bring in over 110 vendors from all over the Southeast, including Spotted Pony Boutique, Kathy Raye Pottery and Oxford Falls Company.
This year the bazaar will feature a “food village,” where local restaurants will be selling food during lunch and dinner hours.
“We hope this will provide a little something extra for the shoppers and vendors,” Gregory said.
She said she also would like to remind customers there will be no general admission or parking fee in order to attend.
Gregory said shoppers are greatly encouraged to come and take advantage of the extended hours on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
“We hope that people will find this time to be very convenient, because they will be able to come before or after work,” she said. “Even though it is not on campus and may have a lot of traffic, it is definitely worth people’s while to make the trip and come enjoy all of the vendors.”