The countdown is on to the 14th Gateway to the Delta Festival, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18, in Charleston.
The daylong festival, the largest such event in Tallahatchie County, will ring the Court Square area.
A fun run/walk at 8 a.m. will precede the festival’s official opening at 10 a.m.
A community project of the Charleston Arts and Revitalization Effort (CARE), the festival is scheduled to wrap up by 11 Saturday night.
Free live musical entertainment, by artists spanning a wide range of genres, will be featured at the stage on the west side of the Square.
The festival features a fun run/walk; arts and crafts and other booths galore; children’s inflatables, games, Mayor Sedrick Smith’s choo-choo train and other activities in the Kids’ Zone; a car show; class reunion tents; a country petting zoo; a children’s pageant; food trucks and more.
The schedule is as follows:
» 8:00 a.m. – Mayor’s fun run/walk
» 8:00-11:00 – Car show registration
» 10:00 – Official welcome by CARE Executive Director Dana Clolinger and Charleston Mayor Sedrick Smith; opening prayer by James Micou and Charleston First Baptist Church pastor Joe May; the singing of the national anthem by Shelby Boone; and introduction of the master of ceremonies, who is Ping Pong Paris
» 10:00 – Kids’ Zone opens
» 10:30 – CAREing Heart award presentation
» 10:45-11:30 – Tiny Miss, Little Miss and Little Mr. Gateway pageant
» 12:00-12:45 p.m. – New Town Missionary Baptist Church Choir
» 1:15-2:45 – Shameless All-Star Country Band
» 3:00-4:00 – Sir Kendrick/William Kindred
» 4:00 – Kids’ Zone closes
» 4:15 – Volunteer of the Year award presentation
» 4:30 – Hometown Hero award presentation
» 4:45 – Smoochin’ Scissors kiss the pig “winner” unveiled (will it be Glenna Callender, Angie Davis or Alisha Pittman who has to pucker up?)
» 5:00-6:30 – S.L.A.S.H.
» 7:00-8:30 – The Krackerjacks
» 8:30 – “Split the Pot” announcement
» 9:00-11:00 – The Band U.S.
For more information, visit the official website, charlestongatewayfestival.org, follow the latest event plans on Facebook at Charleston Gateway to the Delta Festival, or call the CARE organizers at 662-647-0942.
