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Town planning new Railroad Festival in Oct.
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| By THERESE APEL, DAILY LEADER Staff Writer |
September 08, 2009 |
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The town of Hazlehurst will be celebrating its rich arts heritage the first weekend in October at the first Rockin' Railroad Festival.
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Event organizers say now is the time for vendors to throw their hats in on the fun.
"We did this to establish an annual hometown festival to showcase the rich musical history, build pride in our town, and bring people of different backgrounds together," said Hazlehurst Chamber of Commerce Board Member John Huntington.
The event, which starts at 10 a.m. on Oct. 3 and goes until 9 p.m., will showcase 12 local musical artists, with Hazlehurst native, Copiah Academy graduate, and up-and-coming country musician Pat Roper as the main event. The Colonels, a Brookhaven band, will also be a main attraction.
Chamber board member Janet Foster said festival organizers are looking for arts and crafts vendors for the event, which will focus on local musicians, authors and artists.
"We're trying to stay away from the flea market atmosphere, but we want any kind of art, by all means," Foster said, adding that vendors are accepted upon approval.
Chamber President Joe Buck Coates said several locally based authors will be signing books on the grounds of the festival as well.
And, of course, part of the attraction to the event will of course be the Robert Johnson lore that permeates the town's history. Johnson, a Hazlehurst native said to be one of the greatest blues guitar players of all time, supposedly sold his soul to the devil.
"Obviously one of the biggest tourism draws we have as far as the arts is the Robert Johnson connection," Coates said. "People come by here all the time looking for Robert Johnson memorabilia. People come from all over the world for the experience of seeing his hometown."
Event organizers said they didn't realize when they set up the festival that it falls on the same day as Brookhaven's Ole Brook Festival. Coates said the weekend would be changed in the future, but that hopefully people will enjoy both festivals, as they are both daylong events and go into the night.
Foster said anyone interested in putting up a vendor stand at the festival can call the Hazlehurst Chamber of Commerce at 601-894-3752.
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©The Daily Leader 2009
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