Starkville Area Arts Council presents the 2016 Cotton District Arts Festival tomorrow as part of Super Bulldog Weekend.
The Old Cotton Mill 5k and Family Fun Run, Pet Parade, Artisans Village, Children’s Village, musical performances on three stages and more will all take place Saturday.
A new opportunity at this year’s Cotton District Arts Festival is the Pet Trick Competition, which will take place following the Pet Parade. The Pet Parade will begin at 9 a.m. on University Drive and end on the South Stage where the Pet Trick Competition and awards ceremony will take place. Contestants can win prizes for best pet trick, best pet/owner look-alike costume, best Mississippi State spirit costume, most original costume and judge’s choice. The trick performances will begin at 9:30 a.m., and the awards ceremony will begin at 9:45 a.m.
The Artisans Village will take place all day. Over 125 booths will be set up with original and handmade artwork for sale.
Faith Spann, a senior communication major and art history minor, will set up a booth at the Artisans Village from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. to sell her artwork.
“I mainly do watercolors, and I will also have digital prints of the watercolors for sale,” Spann said.
Spann said this is the second year she has set up a booth at the Artisan’s Village.
“It has been a dream of mine to set up a booth at the arts festival for years, Spann said. I set up a booth for the first time last year and had a lot of fun. I’m going to do this every year from now on.”
An award ceremony will take place at noon. Awards include Best in Show; Best of Category in painting, sculpture, photography and graphics, clay, jewelry and traditional crafts, and the Spirit Award.
The Juried Art Competition will take place from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the MSU Visual Arts Gallery at 808 University Drive. The exhibition showcases pieces of art from artists all over the South. Selections were made for the Juried Art Exhibition by James Davis.
The theme for this year’s International Village is “World Jam”. The International Village will display cultural presentations and performances representing Philippines, India, Iran, Pakistan, China, Korea, the United States and many more in the STAGgerIN parking lot. A live disc jockey will also be in attendance.
The Children’s Village, which is orchestrated by Starkville’s Junior Auxiliary, offers activities, art projects and musical entertainment for children and parents. The theme of this year’s Children’s Village is “Arts in Action.”
Adults, students and young writers can sign up for the Writer’s Village between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the village tents. Winners will win a gift card to Campus Bookmart and Café. The Writer’s Village will also host a Writer’s Block Instagram Contest and Six Word Story Contest throughout the day.
Over 16 musical performances will take place on three different stages throughout the day during the Arts Festival. Bill Cooke, Karly Clayton and Brent Varner, the three winners of the Singer/Songwriter Competition at Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern will perform at noon on the main stage.
Brent Varner, third place winner of the Singer/Songwriter Competition and disabilities services coordinator at MSU, said his first performance of the day will be a solo performance.
“I play like old-time, Americana style that stems from the band I used to be in called The Tombigbees,” Varner said.
He is performing bass guitar and vocals again at 1 p.m. with a new band called The Peddlers alongside vocalist and guitarist Tanner Grey, drummer Zach Corder, and Chris Crutcher on keys.
Taste of Starkville puts culinary arts on display and allows festival-goers with an array of eating opportunities. Taste of Starkville judges will also give out multiple awards at the festival.
For more information about the 2016 Starkville District Art Festival, visit CDAFestival.com and starkvillearts.org.
