An article in Thursday’s edition on the McComb Music & Heritage Festival contained a number of errors. Here is a corrected version.
The McComb Music & Heritage Festival seeks to bring the feel of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival or Memphis in May on a smaller scale.
And, with the exception of a French dining experience tonight and the Pike County Little Theatre’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” it’s all free.
“We wanted it to be different,” organizer Phil Hewitt said.
The festival will have an extensive music lineup that hits almost every genre and is family-friendly.
Performers include Jubilee Performing Arts Center students, Dogwood Cross, Myk and Jessica, Ransaak, Jamey and the Soundbreakers, Christian rapper Chris Donald, The Well Worship Band, Revelation and headliners Castro Coleman and Lillian Axe.
“If someone doesn’t like one band, they can go and listen to someone else,” said another organizer, Allison Hewitt, who owns The Broadway Deli.
In between, the Pike County Little Theatre will present the Shakespeare play.
And there will watercolor artists, a book sale, a Kid’s Corner and many other events. Thursday’s article incorrectly reported that the South Pike Drama Club will be performing.
It all kicks off at 9:45 a.m. Saturday with a sidewalk parade. The parade is similar to a New Orleans second line parade, with people dressing up, making floats out of wagons, decorative parasols and anything else that can be imagined — as long as it’s family-friendly.
“It’s a way that people can express themselves,” said Calvin Phelps, president of the McComb Creative Economy Partnership, which is putting on the festival.
The sidewalk parade will make a loop downtown, on Main Street, Railroad Boulevard, State Street and Broadway. During the parade, participants will see the Palace Theater, Topisaw General Store and the Pike County Little Theatre’s Depot Theater building — all venues for Saturday’s events.
The Jubilee Performing Arts Center will break out of the parade and head to Big Daddy’s Blues Club and Cultural Exchange for the first performance of the day.
Performances are expected to last anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes, with 15-minute breaks between sets.
“We have all genres,” Philip Hewitt said. “We have country, rock, Christian, hip-hop, R&B, bluegrass, easy listening.”
Jamey Hewitt of Jamey and the Soundbreakers is a member of a group that is working to renovate the Palace Theater, where Lillian Axe and Castro Coleman will be performing.
“Lillian Axe played here 30 years ago where Big Daddy’s is now,” he said. “There are still people who have the ticket stubs from that concert and remember being there.”
The proceeds from tonight’s French dinner prepared by chef Clay Russell at St. Andrew’s Activity Center will go back to the McComb Creative Economy Partnership to help plan the next festival. Tickets are $32.
Tickets for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which is at 7:30 tonight and Saturday, as well as a 2:30 p.m. matinee on Sunday, are $10 at the Little Theatre building on State Street. Rhonda’s Limelight Cafe will be open at the theatre during the performances.
The new direction of the festival can be credited to a pending construction project on Railroad Boulevard. Festival organizers said city officials warned them that a project to revamp the downtown street that also serves as the location for most festivals and events in the city could cause a disruption. The city just signed documents for the work on Tuesday, so no construction will be taking place this weekend. City officials, however, advised organizers to avoid using the downtown Bo Diddley Pavilion, where much of the work will soon be taking place.
As a result, food vendors will not be on hand this year, but downtown restaurants including The Broadway Deli, Topisaw General Store and The Caboose, as well as concessions at Big Daddy’s, will be open.
Arts and crafts vendors including a glass blower, jewelry maker, painters and a science-themed kids vendor will be on hand throughout the day.
Hewitt and Phelps said the festival gives people a chance to mingle and see what downtown McComb has to offer.
And, to cool off, there will be Italian ice under the parking garage.
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For more information, visit www.mccombarts.com.
