Mississippi is proud to announce the 34^th Biloxi Street St. Patrick’s Day Parade!  The parade will take place on March 17^th downtown Biloxi, Mississippi. The 34^th Biloxi Street St. Patrick's Day Parade brings thousands together in one of the most celebrated St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Mississippi history.

The Parade will feature bands, military units, flag bearers, bagpipers, leprechauns, a horse-drawn carriage with the parade’s Grand Marshal and Colleen, and colorful outrageous floats tossing Irish trinkets, green beads and doubloons.

Parade goers can also enjoy an Irish Derby which is a 5k run. This is a great way to start off the big Mississippi celebration! For more information you can go to http://hiberniamarchingsociety.com/

As we approach the unveiling of the 150th Mississippi Blues Trail next Tuesday, two new blues trail markers were erected in the Mississippi Delta this week.

On Thursday, February 16, Tommy McClennan was recognized with a marker at W. Broadway and N. Water Streets in Yazoo City. McClennan (c. 1905-1961) was one of America's most successful down-home blues recording artists during the period when he recorded 20 singles for the Bluebird label (1939-1942). Among McClennan's most notable numbers were “Bottle It Up and Go,” “Cross Cut Saw,” “Travelin’ Highway Man,” “Deep Blue Sea Blues,” “Whiskey Head Woman” and “New Highway No. 51 Blues.” McClennan, famed for his raucous, uninhibited singing and guitar playing, frequented the Water Street section of Yazoo City when he lived on the nearby J. F. Sligh plantation.

Pianist, vocalist and songwriter Mose Allison also received a blues trail marker in his hometown of Tippo. Allison performed at the Bologna Performing Arts Center at Delta State University earlier this week and was the recipient of the Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Arts Commission during a ceremony in Jackson. Allison was born on November 11, 1927, in his grandfather’s farmhouse on the island in Tippo Bayou, about three miles from town. In 1956, Allison moved to New York City, where he soon achieved acclaim as a jazz artist. His music always retained a strong blues influence though, and in addition to covering the songs of Sonny Boy Williamson No. 2, Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, Allison authored blues standards, including “Parchman Farm.”

Join us as we celebrate the unveiling of the150th Mississippi Blues marker on Tuesday, February 21, 2012, honoring Furry Lewis. The ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the intersection of Lamar Street and Carrollton Avenue in Greenwood, Miss. A reception will be held at the Crystal Grill immediately following the unveiling ceremony.

Backed by Mississippi cultural leaders, the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival is teaming up with The Infinite Theatre to bring their popular production of “Orpheus Descending” to Tennessee Williams’ home state of Mississippi this month. A total of nine performances are planned in three cities: Columbus, Oxford and Jackson from February 23-March 3.

For the past two years, this powerful rendition of “Orpheus” has been called “thrilling” with “outstanding performances.” It was a runaway success at the annual fall Festival, held in September in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Arts, culture and political leaders from Mississippi were so impressed with the production that a coalition of supporters has been formed and funds were raised for the New York-based Infinite Theatre’s production to come to Mississippi. It is co-produced by the Festival with over 20 people involved.

Here are some scenes from previous performances around the country. Photos courtesy of Josh Andrus and Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival:

The production is conceived as a morality play – to be performed in a house of worship. The imagery in the text comes not only from the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus, but from Williams’ own Episcopal upbringing in small-town Mississippi. “Orpheus Descending” takes place in the Mississippi Delta, where Williams spent his boyhood until the age of 7. The play follows the handsome, guitar-playing Val Xavier (Thomas Beaudoin) as he tries valiantly to turn his back on corruption. He appears in a metaphorical purgatory, arriving mysteriously in a small-town dry goods store run by an Italian immigrant named Lady Torrance (Irene Glezos). She’s married to an old, dying man, but Lady takes in the alluring drifter, giving him a bed in the store and thereby unlocking her long-repressed desire. Val’s arrival stirs up the insular, suspicious townspeople, leading to his inevitable expulsion, while the free-wheeling misfit, Carol Cutrere (Beth Bartley), haunts Lady’s store in a tangle of innocence and vice. Broken, brazen and defiant, these three tragic heroes are the ultimate outsiders. Yet their ordinary weaknesses reveal extraordinary zeal.

PERFORMANCES

Columbus – Feb. 23-25
First United Methodist Church, Artz Fellowship Hall, 602 College St.
662.328.ARTS (2787)

Oxford – Feb. 26-28
Paris-Yates Chapel, University of Mississippi
662.236.6429

Jackson – Mar. 1-3
St Luke’s United Methodist Church, 621 Duling Ave.
www.orpheusinfondren.com  

On Saturday, January 28, 2012, “Appetite for Jackson” kicks off from 2-9 p.m., in The Art Garden at the Mississippi Museum of Art. The inaugural food festival celebrates the City of Jackson and its cultural and culinary excellence.

The event will feature live music and showcase an array of local restaurants and their culinary delights, including Parlor Market, Underground 119, Peaches, Lumpkins Barbeque, the King Edward Grill, The Palette Café by Viking and many more. Live music from local bands will rock out The Art Garden throughout the day. Admission is free; food plates from participating restaurants are available for $5. Craft beer will be available for sale from Capital City Beverages.

The Travel Channel’s show, “Appetite For Life,” will feature the festival on an upcoming episode. The show’s host, Andrew Zimmern, will be appearing at the festival and at various VIP events.

Event sponsors include: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi, Mississippi Museum of Art, Downtown Jackson Partners, WLBT, Underground 119, Metro Jackson Chamber of Commerce, Jackson Convention & Visitors Bureau and Cathead Vodka.

For more information on this event, visit the official website, become a fan on Facebook or follow the event on Twitter.

This week, the Mississippi Blues Trail unveiled its 140th marker. Vicksburg’s own Blue Room was recognized with the historic marker, which was the fifth for the Vicksburg area. The unveiling took place at 601 Clay Street overlooking the Catfish Row Children’s Art Park in Vicksburg. Entertainment was provided by Vicksburg local blues musicians Osgood and Blaque.



One of the most storied night spots in the South, the Blue Room, which stood at 602 Clay Street, was operated for more than thirty years by flamboyant owner Tom Wince Jr. Ray Charles, Fats Domino, B. B. King, Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong and Little Milton were among the many stars who played here. In the 1940s and ‘50s, Wince was the most important blues promoter in Mississippi, booking bands through a network of nightclubs and halls across the state and in Louisiana. 

Members of the Wince family were on hand to receive the honor. Tom Wince died in 1978.



The Mississippi Blues Trail is a museum without walls taking visitors on a musical history journey through Mississippi and beyond. The trail started with the first official marker in Holly Ridge, the resting place of the blues guitarist Charley Patton, and winds its way to sites honoring B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Son House and others. Out-of-state markers are located in Chicago; Memphis; Los Angeles; Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Ferriday, Louisiana; Helena, Arkansas; Rockland, Maine; Grafton, Wisconsin; and Tallahassee, Florida.

For more information about the Mississippi Blues Trail, visit http://www.msbluestrail.org/.

On Monday, August 29, the world lost another great blues legend when David “Honeyboy” Edwards of Shaw, Mississippi, passed away in his Chicago home. The GRAMMY-winning artist was known to be the oldest surviving Delta bluesman.



Honeyboy achieved many accolades during his career, which included induction to the Blues Hall of Fame, several GRAMMY Awards, the Mississippi Arts Commission's Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award and many other notable recognitions. However, one of his fondest memories was being honored on the Mississippi Blues Trail on April 13, 2007.

The bestselling novel “The Help”, now a major motion picture, is set in the Greater Belhaven neighborhood of Jackson Mississippi. The novel’s author, Kathryn Stockett, is a native of Jackson and of Belhaven, one of Mississippi’s most intact historic neighborhoods.



With the popularity of the book and now the movie in theatres nationwide, women across the country want to walk the streets where Skeeter, Aibileen, Miss Hilly, Elizabeth, Stuart and more walked. As the area has changed dramatically over the years, many ofthe places in the book have not. The Jackson Convention & Visitors Bureau have made getting a glimpse and walking this historic neighborhood the newest attraction in Jackson with their Driving Tours. Download the tour and drive the streets of Belhaven and see the neighborhood that brought “The Help” to life!



Click here to download the PDF document, map included! Click here to download the PDF of the combined Part I and Part II tours. This tour shows the relationship between actual places in Greater Belhaven and the text of "The Help".



If you want to see the points within this tour on a map, check out the combined tour for The Help in Belhaven Neighborhood Tour and The Help in Jackson Driving Tour via Google Maps. Want this tour to go on your smartphone? It can easily be viewed in Google Maps for smartphones. Click here for the map.