Upcoming Events

Spring always brings interesting travels our way. (Summer, fall, and winter do too!) We were sorting through what's available in the coming weeks and months, looking for new adventures, and we thought you might be interested in the happenings as well. Feel free to use the comment section to let us know fun things we've overlooked – we'll be the first to admit that our calendar will be heavy on festivals (our favorite thing in the whole world) and tours (our other favorite thing in the whole world). We'll add to the list as we learn about things.

March

March 12-April 16 – Natchez – Spring Pilgrimage
http://www.visitnatchez.org/

March 24-26 – Oxford – 18th Oxford Conference for the Book

Events – readings, talks, panel discussions, book signings, etc. – take place at the J.D. Williams Library and other sites on the Ole Miss campus and around Oxford.
http://www.oxfordconferenceforthebook.com/

March 26-27 – Natchez – Grand Village of the Natchez Indians

Powwow - music, dancing, crafts, food, jewelry

601-446-6502

March 26-April 3 – Mississippi Gulf Coast – 59th Mississippi Gulf Coast Spring Pilgrimage "Coming Home!" The first Spring Pilgrimage on the coast in six years! This is a progressive tour of gardens and historic homes and buildings along the coast. Go online for the full calendar of what's available when.
http://www.springpilgrimage.web.com/ 228-342-2366 http://www.gulfcoast.org/

March 28-April 9 – Columbus – Spring 2011 Pilgrimage

They're also celebrating the centennial of playwright Tennessee Williams' birth!

http://www.columbus-ms.org/

April

April 2-3 – Ridgeland – Renaissance Fine Arts Festival
The Renaissance at Colony Park – juried fine arts festival, 100 artists
http://www.renaissanceartsfest.com/

April 8-9 – East Tupelo – Presley Heights Azalea Festival and Up. Up, and Away Balloon Festival

Veterans Park

www.tupelo.net/events-festivals

April 15-16 - Vicksburg - Riverfest Arts and Crafts Festival
www.riverfestms.com

April 16 - Cleveland - Crosstie Arts and Jazz Festival
http://crosstie-arts.org/site/

April 15-17 - Clarksdale - Juke Joint Fest
http://www.jukejointfest.com

April 15-16 - Philadelphia Ham Jam Arts Fest
http://www.hamjamartsfestival.com

April 16 - Tishomingo - Hollis Long Memorial Dulcimer Festival - Tishomingo State Park - all day entertainment (no website)

April 16 - Vicksburg - 31st Annual Alcorn State University Jazz Fest
http://www.alcorn.edu/jazzfest

April 14-24 - Biloxi - 19th Annual Mississippi Coast Coliseum Crawfish Festival htttp://www.mscoastcoliseum.com

April 16-23 - Hernando - Cedar Hill Farms 8th Annual Easter Egg Hunt
http://www.cedarhfarm.com/easter.php

April 30 – Tupelo – Dudie Burger Festival

Oren Dunn City Museum

http://www.orendunnmuseum.org/

April 28-May 1 – Tupelo – Blue Suede Cruise

Tupelo Automobile Museum and BancorpSouth Arena parking lot

http://www.orendunnmuseum.org

Welcome Centers

Mississippi's Welcome Centers are state treasures that hum along under the radar of most residents. There are twelve of them, believe it or not, situated to cover most routes into Mississippi. They came about in the mid 1960s, with the advent of interstate highways and Lady Bird Johnson's push for the Highway Beautification Act. And, those of us who remember when people threw anything and everything out their car windows and never gave it a second thought will be ever grateful to Mrs. Johnson for helping eradicate that blight on our national face.

The centers themselves are lovely, elegantly furnished places. They're all different, but all built to resemble the antebellum homes so closely associated with Mississippi in most visitors' minds. They're staffed 8-5, seven days a week, and they're a wealth of free information on the state and what's going on. Stop in next time you see one, even (or especially) if you have one in your area. They're listed below by county as that's how they are known, but the towns (and sometimes a little more information) is listed to give you a better idea of exactly where the center is.

Alcorn - Corinth
Itawamba - Tremont (Fulton)
Desoto - Hernando
Delma Furniss - Lula (Highways 49 & 61)
Washington - Greenville
Warren - Vicksburg
Lauderdale - Toomsuba
Adams - Natchez
Pike - Magnolia
Pearl River - Picayune
Hancock - Pearlington (Gulf Coast)
Jackson - Moss Point

For more info, check out www.visitmississippi.org and click on Welcome Centers.