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PAUL:

Art, music, food and family. Well, if that sounds like your kind of Saturday, keep on listening. Hey, it's Paul Wolf with the front row seat to conversations on culture from Jackson, Mississippi. We call our podcast Soul Sessions. It's the people, places and events that make the City With Soul shine. On today's show, my colleague Yolanda Clay Moore is catching up with Kimberlee Cooper from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the organization behind Mississippi Makers Fest, a free family friendly celebration of local art, music and food. From pottery demos to American Idol headliners, Kimberlee shares how this growing festival turns downtown Jackson into a showcase of Mississippi creativity.

YOLANDA:

What year is this are we celebrating for MakersFest?

KIMBERLEE:

So this will be our fourth year having Mississippi MakersFest.

YOLANDA:

Fourth year. I would say that it's growing and people are getting more excited about it. And what are your thoughts on that?

KIMBERLEE:

Yeah, I completely agree. Last year we had pretty close to 5,000 people to visit MakersFest. So we're hoping to increase that number this year. We've gotten a lot of traction with it on Instagram and Facebook. So we look forward to the crowd.

YOLANDA:

You know, there's a lot of buzz going on right now for American Idol because one of the participants, Jamal, is a Meridian native. But the Makers Fest also has ties with American Idol this year. Tell me about that.

KIMBERLE:

Yeah. So this year we have Mr. Colin Stough performing for our headliner. In the past, our stage has been used to kind of catapult some of the artists that performed into more stardom, so he's pretty popular now with being on American Idol, but hopefully this will be kind of a rocket to launch him further in his career.

YOLANDA:

Now tell the listeners what day it is, what time it is, and kind of walk them through, you know, what they can expect when they make it to Makers Fest.

KIMBERLEE:

Makers Fest will be held on May 10th from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. It's always the Mother's Day weekend, always the Saturday before Mother's Day. We ask that you guys please come out clear bags only and should expect a good time. Cleanly of food trucks. We have over 50 Mississippi vendors. All of our vendors are from Mississippi. So that's something we really try to pride ourselves on having local artists and food trucks as well as musicians available. You you talked about this being a Mother's Day celebration. So a great day.

YOLANDA:

You know, if your mom is still with us to bring her out and enjoy some good music. And I think mothers really enjoy the local vendors. So tell me about the vendors that are on site during this event.

KIMBERLEE:

Yeah, I absolutely agree. We have a few vendors that will also be demonstrating. So if your mom's into pottery, we have Pitter Patter Pottery House. She has this huge bus that she uses to create her pottery, beautiful artwork. We also have Joe Patterson, who creates jewelry. We have the Forge Council will be here and then Jim Bankston. So we have a lot of vendors that will be demonstrating.

YOLANDA:

So bring your mom out, bring the children out. We have a lot of things and activities for the children as well that's interactive and people can actually learn how to make some pottery. Am I correct in that?

KIMBERLEE:

Yes, so with her name is Debbie Lane. With Miss Debbie, she has this bus. You can get on the bus and she'll show you how she creates some of her pottery. We'll also have Harold Miller. He's a sculptor using clay. He'll be doing some demonstrating. Joe Bankston, which does glasswork. He'll be doing some demonstrating. And Nick Neese, which is glass blowing. He'll be doing some demonstration.

YOLANDA:

What a great opportunity for the children to learn about those different crafts that they wouldn't normally see, you know? Yeah, hopefully spark some interest and they'll get into it also.

Okay, Kimberlee, you mentioned something. know, a lot of times we have these types of events and they want to know, can we bring our kids?

KIMBERLEE:

And so this is a family friendly event. So this is a family-friendly event and we've actually decided to move our mini makers is what we call the section for the children. We've moved it outside. We have face painting. We'll have a caricature artist here. Also, there's a lot going on for the children as well as the museums will be open. So if you haven't visited the museums. It's free that day, come by, tour the museums and then come out and enjoy the festival.

YOLANDA:

I have grandkids and so that's always something important to me to know, “what can the kids do if I come to this event?” So that's really great to hear. One question that somebody always has, can I bring my cooler? What does that look like? What can they bring to the festival?

KIMBERLEE:

We have not allowed coolers or anything, just clear bags. Bring yourself because we will have food trucks and Fratelli Ice out there. So we want to support our local businesses.

YOLANDA:

So blankets are okay?

KIMBERLEE:

Blankets, lawn chairs, anything you need to set up and camp out with us, it's perfectly fine. Just no coolers.

YOLANDA:

I know that you have a special affinity for the museum store. Will that be open?

KIMBERLEE:

Yes, the museum store will be open as well. We have a few vendors that's participating in the festival that we carry in the store, but we also have some that aren't participating. So if you see something out there and they tell you, “come inside, they have it here,” feel free to come inside and buy it at the museum store.

YOLANDA:

Let's talk about what it takes to put this kind of event together. Tell me about some of your partners, some of your sponsors, and some of the behind-the-scenes things that people don't typically see.

KIMBERLEE:

So we have a lot of sponsors. Our main sponsor is Nissan, which we greatly appreciate them for sponsoring us. Also we have Visit Jackson, who's a sponsor. We have Fertile Ground who's a sponsor. So a lot of local businesses helping to put this event together.

YOLANDA:

And is there a cost to attend this event?

KIMBERLEE:

There's no cost. This event is free to the public. Like I said, we open at 10, we end at eight, come at 10 and stay all day or come anytime in between. It's completely free.

YOLANDA: Kimberlee, tell me, what do you like the most about this event?

KIMBERLEE:

So many things. Being on the planning community, I get to see all aspects of it, but I really think my favorite part is seeing everyone come out and just have a good time with family and friends, strangers interacting because of music or food or makers. I think that's my favorite part.

YOLANDA:

You know what's going on right now? This line dancing is very popular.

Will there be fans?

KIMBERLEE:

I can't speak. I don't know. I don't know for sure. Maybe there will be, maybe not. You know, we're open to it all.

YOLANDA:

So, you know, people want to know, they bring their fans and, you know, is there a DJ and also with the live music, is there a DJ?

KIMBERLEE:

So we'll have 5th Child, he'll be MCing the program prior to the music lineup starting. The live music won't start until three.

YOLANDA: Okay.

KIMBERLEE:

So that kind of gives our makers the opportunity to actually speak with their customers without the music blaring.

YOLANDA:

Okay, Kimberle, let me ask you one question. You know, what is it about Jackson that you like?

KIMBERLEE:

I think what I love about Jackson the most is just the feeling of home. No matter who you meet, you always get that Southern hospitality from everyone. I did live on the West Coast for a while, but there's nothing like home since, of course, I'm back. So nothing like home.

YOLANDA:

I can appreciate that. You know, we do have a warm sense of home here in the city. And I think that's what resonates when people visit with us is that there's just a feeling of home. And on May the 10th, we're not only going to have that sense of home, we're going to have some good music. We're going to have a lot of opportunity for you to explore some different crafts, maybe learn something different and introduce your children to these things and have a really good, really good time. Thank you, Kimberlee, so much for joining us today.

KIMBERLEE:

Of course, thanks for having me.

PAUL:

That's Kimberle Cooper with my colleague, Yolanda Clay-Moore. Whether you're coming for the food trucks, live music or to support local artisans, Kimberlee reminds us there's something special waiting for everyone at Makers Fest. We'll have links to learn more about the fest in our show notes at visitjackson.com/soulsessions.

This podcast is produced by Visit Jackson, the destination organization for Mississippi's capital city. Our executive producers are Jonathan Pettus and Dr. Ricky Thigpen, and I'm our managing editor. Do you want to know more about all of the great things going on in Mississippi's capital city? You can find that at visitjackon.com.

I'm Paul Wolf and you've been listening to Soul Sessions.

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