WEST POINT – Trains will run, and blues music will croon as the Prairie Arts Festival returns for its 48th year.

West Point-Clay County Growth Alliance Director Lisa Klutts said the festival, which is always scheduled for the Saturday before Labor Day, is returning with its usual crowd of roughly 200 vendors filling downtown with art, music and food.

“The energy that it generates and the anticipation and how people look forward to coming, you can just feel it,” Klutts told The Dispatch on Thursday.
“I can just feel it in the air and in the office. … I love seeing my favorite vendors coming back. I love meeting new vendors and helping them get established and answering questions. And there’s just a lot of different things (that make it great), but I think overall, just the overall energy and vibe that it brings to town.”

The event this year will kick off with a 5K race at 8 a.m. Saturday. After the race, Klutts said the festival will take over downtown between Main and Westbrook streets from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with vendors selling items ranging from handmade crafts to juried fine art.

At the festival’s main stage, five bands will perform throughout the festival, including Crowns of Joy, The Crossroad Band and Alex Jackson and the Revolution.

The Juried Arts Competition and students’ art competition will also be going on at the Louise Campbell Center for the Arts, Klutts said. Awards for the juried competition will be presented at 11 a.m. in the center, Klutts said, adding the student awards will be presented at 2 p.m.

Beyond those activities, there will also be a kids zone available between the playground and the Bryan Public Library.

Klutts said the zone is returning bigger and better this year, featuring jumpers, a pony ride and a mechanical bull. The Prairie Arts train will also be available in the area.

“I think I’ve gotten more than I’ve ever had in the kids area,” Klutts said. “So there’s lots of things for the kids to do.”

All the proceeds this year for the festival will help to fund ongoing renovations to the Sally Kate Winters Memorial Park downtown, Klutts said.

The $300,000 renovation project of the park and its gazebo, which began in May, is progressing well and is expected to largely be complete by the end of the month, Klutts said. The funds from the festival, she said, will help to pay for additional landscape work, benches and tables.

Strumming along

During the festival, Black Prairie Blues Museum will host live music from Henry Jones and will be selling tamales, hot dogs and bratwursts, Museum Director Deborah Mansfield said.

After the festival, the music will play on at the museum as they host Kenny Brown and The Old Memphis Kinds. Doors will open at 5 p.m., and the music will begin at 6, with tickets costing $20. JM Stevens will take over the stage 30 minutes later, and tickets for his performance will be $10.

Tickets for the performances can be purchased at the door or online at blackprairiebluesmuseum.com.

Mansfield said the money raised by the museum will help continue renovation and expansion efforts at the museum.

Since January, the museum has received $173,000 in grant funding from various sources, including a Mississippi Arts Commission grant, a T-Mobile Hometown Grant and matching funds from Blue Cross Blue Shield Mississippi.

That funding has largely been spent and has already contributed to improvements including new cabinetry, improved sound equipment for the museum’s stage, a new entryway mosaic of Howlin’ Wolfe and new exterior signage, Mansfield said.

The hope for the funds raised during the festival is to help get the ball rolling on a roughly $2 million expansion the museum has had in the works for the last eight years.

“We purchased the building next door, and that is what we’d like to see become our permanent museum,” Mansfield said. “And then the building that we’re in, we’d like to keep that as our event and cultural art center.”

For more information, check the Black Prairie Blues Museum Facebook page.