Peter Anderson Festival promises a good time

By PAM FIRMIN - pfirmin@sunherald.com

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Sunshine and good times are scheduled for the weekend’s 31st Annual Peter Anderson Festival in Ocean Springs.

Organizers predict the Nov. 7-8 festival will be the biggest ever, attracting crowds in excess of 150,000 for its juried art exhibition and shopping extravaganza with live music and ample amounts of wide-ranging food. Downtown streets will be closed to vehicle traffic.

With nearly 350 arts and crafts vendors from all over the U.S., the fest is designated a top tourist event by the Southeast Tourism Society and AAA Southern Traveler’s Magazine.

It is hosted by the Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce — Main Street — Tourism Bureau, which has dedicated this year’s event to finding a cure for Lou Gehrig’s disease. The festival is named for native son and master potter Peter Anderson (1901-1984),

New among the live bands to perform in Marshall Park is a young bluegrass foursome called Nash Street, which was named the Best New Act in Country Music at the 26th Annual Colgate Country Showdown at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in January. They’ll perform from 3-4:30 p.m. Sunday.

Among many returning artists is Jan Byron of Tecumseh, Okla., who has been coming to the festival about five years and won the 2008 Creative Arts Award for her 3-D mixed media made with stuffed fabric.

Dena McKee from Pascagoula, known for her series of Jackson County landmarks, will sell prints of her new “The Shed BBQ & Blues Joint,” which this year won a national “best barbecue” award on ABC’s “Regis and Kelly” show.

Festival times are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.