Whether you enjoy hiking, camping, playing golf, a nice walk on the beach or maybe the well-kept secret of playing disc golf we have it all in Mississippi.

The disc is like a Frisbee; only instead of tossing it to a person you try to toss it into a basket.  Everyone is trying it.  It’s the latest craze to hit the sporting world.  They even have a Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA).  Members of that association are going to set up a course here at Pearl River County Welcome Center.  The course will be set up on Sunday, April 28^th from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.  If you want to have some fun, come on out and join us.

Stop by the Pearl River County Welcome Center on March 30 to see the folk art of Ed Hahn, a former New Orleans resident now living in Carriere, Miss.  He is the executive chef of Paul’s Pastry.  His passion is food (he has been a chef for 35 years), but his real love is art.  Ed has been carving wooden duck decoys since he was a small boy with his grandfather. His grandfather, Earl Bappert, taught him the techniques of repairing the decoys' heads and bodies before each hunting season.  Ed had no idea that his love for hunting would turn into this fantastic folk art, also developing his skill in painting and carving.  Don't miss Ed and his unique art March 30!

 

We will have several different displays for viewing and local celebrities to visit with throughout the month, please check our calendar of events and stop by to see us.

On February 22, stop by the Warren County Welcome Center in Vicksburg and meet Glenn Taylor and his wife Karen, of Terry, Miss. Tables of relics including weapons, accoutrements, bottles and memorabilia from the Civil War will be on display. Also see authentic period uniforms and antebellum dresses. Free coffee will be served. Warren County Welcome Center, 4201 S. Washington St., Vicksburg, Miss. For more information, call 601.368.4269.

On Thursday, January 17, the Mississippi Film Office celebrated its 40th anniversary. Officially proclaimed “Mississippi Film Day” by Governor Phil Bryant, the celebration began with displays and a colorful cake in the rotunda of the State Capitol Building.

The one-of-a-kind cake, which highlighted various films shot in the state (such as “My Dog Skip,” “Walk The Line,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”, “The Help” and “As I Lay Dying”), was courtesy of Campbell’s Bakery in Jackson.

The day culminated with a reception at the Governor’s Mansion where Governor Bryant, friends of the industry and staff from the Mississippi Film Office mingled and shared their thoughts about the importance and impact of the film industry in the state.

All of the fanfare was the perfect kickoff for film festival season in Mississippi. The Clarksdale Film Festival ran January 24-27.

Other upcoming festivals include:

• Oxford Film Festival, February 21-24, www.oxfordfilmfestival.com
• Crossroads Film Festival (Jackson), April 12-14, www.crossroadsfilmfestival.com
• Tupelo Film Festival, May 15-19, www.tupelofilmfestival.net

(Last year, the Crossroads Film Festival was selected as a Top 20 Event by the Southeast Tourism Society.)

Go to www.filmmississippi.org for more information about the film industry in Mississippi.

This April 13^th through 15^th, the 9^th annual Juke Joint Festival will be held in Clarksdale, MS. What is the Juke Joint Festival? It’s a positive event for everyone in Clarksdale. It’s good for families, businesses, musicians and tourists alike. The festival itself combines an international “blues festival” with a community-minded “small-town fair,” creating a strong and memorable event like no other in the universe. It’s organized by the Clarksdale Downtown Development Association (CDDA) and staffed by enthusiastic volunteers. This “half small-town fair, half blues festival” does more than simply entertain attendees -- though it definitely does that, too! It aims to educate and enlighten native Deltans and blues tourists alike through a series of performances, exhibits, and presentations involving music, art, storytelling, film, and children’s events. The event mixes visitors with locals and showcases the economic power of cultural tourism, turning average Deltans into ambassadors for the region. 

Clarksdale is just 90 minutes south of the Memphis International Airport and was once home to such blues greats as: Son House, John Lee Hooker, Junior Parker, Ike Turner, Muddy Waters, Pinetop Perkins, Earl Hooker, Lil Green, Big Jack Johnson and many many others.  This year’s festival is dedicated to Delta blues legend David "Honeyboy" Edwards was a regular performer at Juke Joint Festival.  He passed away on August 29, 2011 at 96 years old.

A family-friendly event, the festival also provides a bus service at night to discourage drinking and driving between music venues. All daytime Saturday events are all FREE while nighttime Saturday events all come for the price of a cheap, $15 wristband (which gets you unlimited rides on the blues shuttle bus and entry to almost 20 nighttime 'juke joint' venues). For more information, event listing and pictures from past festivals go to www.jukejointfestival.com

Or go to http://visitclarksdale.com/ for more information on Clarksdale itself.

A friend and I went to Natchez, MS last weekend and it was such a wonderful trip. We stayed at The Devereaux Shields House in the Gallery Suite, it was just beautiful. The hospitality was wonderful and the breakfast was outstanding. The Gallery Suite has a balcony you can go out on and sit for hours. This area is so quiet, with a wonderful breeze blowing that kept it quite comfortable. The room we stayed in was beautiful and the private bath had plenty of hot water and a very comfortable bath tub.
The back yard had lovely flowers as well as the front yard along with a comfortable sitting area both in the back yard area and on the porch in the front yard area. I did not realize that at night we would have the house to ourselves, it was so quite and just a fantastic place to stay.
Ron and Eleanor were such wonderful hosts, they made sure we had everything we needed and helped us with where to go to eat and even made our reservations for us. We ate at the Magnolia Grill down on the river bank close to the Mississippi River Bridge, I am attaching a picture of the Mississippi River Bridge that I took right there on the bank of the Mississippi with my IPhone. I hope you enjoy it.

When we left there we had a lovely carriage ride around Natchez with a very knowledgable drive and a dancing horse. It was late evening so it was dark except for the street light that made it very pretty and romantic, couples you really need to go on this ride at night.
The next morning we went to breakfast at the Aunt Clara's Cottage where we sat with others visiting Natchez for the first time, but will not the last. All of which has such wonderful things to say about our beautiful state. It made me very proud of Mississippi listening to them.
When we left there we decided to visit some of the places that the driver told us about on the carriage ride. We went to the St. Mary's Cathedral, the only church built at a cathedral in Mississippi. This is a very beautiful cathedral and well worth stopping and touring. We left St. Mary's and started walking downtown, decided we were hungry and so we stopped at a quaint little restaurant by the name of Breaud's Seafood and Steak; wonderful food a must eat there.
When we left there we went back to the room and got ready to go on the Green Tour of houses. We toured "The Burn" (1832), "The Elm" (1804) and "Hope Farm" (1775-1789). These tours were very informative and interesting, along with being beautifully furnished in Greek, Spanish and the Elm being built in 3 different distinct stages.  That is all I am going to tell you, you have to go on the tour yourself. Believe me it is worth taking the time to go. After we left the Green Tour, we went to tour "Longwood" (1860-1861) and learned all about the owner and his visions that were way ahead of his time as you will see when you go ont the tour and why the house was never completed. This is a very interesting story, you do not want to miss it. This home is octagonal in shape and in the a National Historic Landmark.
This was an amazing trip and we cannot wait to go back to Natchez.

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/

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.

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, could be the most popular shopping day of the year among bargain shoppers.  Stores are opening their doors earlier than ever this year, some even as early as Thanksgiving night. If you are looking to get a good deal and jump start your holiday shopping, follow our guide and get the best bargains in Mississippi.

The Outlets at Vicksburg are opening their doors at 11pm on Thanksgiving night and will be running specials throughout Black Friday until 9pm.  Show up early and you have a chance to win a 42” 3D TV, $250 shopping spree, and an iPad2. See a full list of exclusive store specials and offers here.  This is the perfect shopping venue for anyone who will be traveling to Central Mississippi.

Northpark Mall in Richland will open its doors at 4am on Black Friday, which leaves just enough time to get in few hours of sleep before you start your shopping.  Deals and discounts are offered at many participating stores.

If you are spending your Thanksgiving near the coast, head over to the Gulfport Premium Outlets to start your Black Friday shopping.  Stores will open at 10pm on Thanksgiving night for the Moonlight Madness Sale.  Be one of the first 200 shoppers in line at Shoppers Services and you will receive a free $10 Tanger Gift Card.  The first 100 shoppers in line at 2am will receive a $20 Tanger Gift Card.  Check out the full list of Black Friday specials here.

The Bonita Lakes Mall in Meridian is celebrating Black Friday again this year.  The doors open at 4am and anyone that arrives between 4am-12 noon will receive a free gift.  Some stores such as JCPenny will open as early as 3:30am.  

Wherever you decide to venture for your Black Friday shopping, make sure that you get plenty of rest, pack some snacks, and wear comfortable shoes!  Take a load off your feet at the end of your long shopping day and book your hotel room before it’s too late!