This weekend’s Pardon Johnny Cash Flower Pickin’ Festival represents a truly historic moment for the Starkville community and Cash fans from across the globe.With guest speakers and musicians who were music pioneers alongside Cash, such as Cash’s bass player Marshall Grant, and an official endorsement from the Cash family, the event may finally give fans a place to pay homage to the “Man in Black.” It is projected by the Greater Starkville Development Partnership to make an economic impact of $1.3 million during the weekend, and that’s if just 10,000 people show up. It will also give students a rare incentive not to pack their suitcases and go home for the weekend.
A lot of Cash fans have no one place to celebrate, so why couldn’t Starkville be that place? Cash played the outlaw part, but most of his songs about jail, such as “Folsom Prison,” are fictional. “Starkville City Jail” is his only non-fictional account of incarceration.
Furthermore, Mississippi has a rich musical history but is often neglected by modern bands and musicians who owe their livelihoods to this area.
Music buffs come to the state to discover the origins of blues, and Cash’s style spawned from the blues genre.
The economic impact should be substantial. About 20,000 people are expected to attend the concerts downtown, which will give visitors a chance to support local establishments that have been ignored since the Old Main Music Festival was moved in 2006. Also, the fact that the majority of students will probably stay in Starkville should have favorable economic results.
And the fact that students have a reason to stay in town is a wonderful change. Few students have participated in campus and community events this semester. This weekend could be refreshing.
Credit must be given to the brainchild of the Cash pardon, MSU research writer Robbie Ward. Ward hit the ground running in 2005 when he began a petition for a symbolic pardon of Cash’s 1965 offense. With the outstanding dedication of Ward and others, the idea turned into a huge tribute, and one that hasn’t lost it’s original purpose: The pardon of Johnny Cash.
We expect the festival to succeed where events like Bulldog Bash have struggled in the past. It will be able to cater to a large audience but keep a unifying theme.
Most importantly, a lot of us are just glad to have a good reason to stay in town this weekend.
The Reflector editorial board is made up of opinion editor Matt Watson, news editor Erin Kourkounis, sports editor Melissa Meador, entertainment editor David Breland, photo editor Bud Sorey, online editor C.J. LeMaster, managing editor Nathan Gregory and editor in chief Tyler Stewart.