Celebrating Abundant Talent
Oxford is a cultural mecca. Internationally known as the home of Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner, Oxford has been named one of "The 100 Best Small Arts Towns in America." The area's abundant cultural resources include a generous supply of talented performers, writers, visual artists, musicians, filmmakers, and educators. Oxford-Lafayette County and the University of Mississippi stage a wide assortment of concerts, theater productions, exhibits, readings, lectures, and symposia throughout the year, drawing from a richly diverse population, as well as visiting artists and scholars and major touring groups. For information about cultural activities throughout Oxford and Lafayette County, visit the community calendar at www.oxfordms.com/calendar, the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council web site at www.oxfordarts.com, and the University of Mississippi’s Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts web site at www.olemiss.edu/fordcenter.
Around Oxford, the lively sounds of jazz, blues, and rock music can be heard regularly at numerous restaurants and clubs, and a growing number of community theatre groups perform classic and original works at various locales. Art galleries host shows and receptions for artists spanning every genre. The University Museum and Historic houses, the Powerhouse Community Arts Center, and Oxford-Lafayette Public Library regularly offer displays and programs for adults and children to enjoy. The Powerhouse includes a 160-seat theatre, gallery, classroom, meeting space, and catering kitchen.
Special Events
On the last Saturday in April each year, Oxford pulls out all the stops when it hosts the Double Decker Arts Festival - a lively celebration of music, art, and food on the historic downtown Courthouse Square. The day begins with a 10K run and 5K walk through the Ole Miss campus and downtown Oxford. The festival, named for the town's authentic English tour bus, draws more than 50,000 people for a day of entertaining sights, sounds, and flavors. The 15th Annual event is scheduled for April 24, 2010.
On Sundays in June, the Lafayette-Oxford-University Summer Sunset Series presents a changing medley of free outdoor entertainment, in The Grove on the Ole Miss campus, including jazz, gospel, and various other flavors of music. The community's Annual 4th of July celebration, complete with a street dance, a Firecracker Ball, and a dazzling fireworks show, is featured in the Series. During the spring and fall, the internationally famous Square Books hosts the Thacker Mountain Radio Show, a live radio broadcast showcasing prominent writers who read from their work between sets by local musicians. The Sixth Annual Oxford Film Festival, www.oxfordfilmfest.com, will be held February 4-7, 2010.
The Gertrude C. Ford Performing Arts Center, a state-of-the-art venue on the UM campus, provides quality entertainment by high-profile artists from around the world as well as rising stars from the University's theater, opera, music programs and community ensembles. Two international literary conferences are held in Oxford each year: The Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha Conference, in its 36th year, and The Oxford Conference for the Book, in its 16th year. Day and evening presentations feature some of the most celebrated authors in America, and attract writers, scholars, editors, and publishers from around the world. Also held in Oxford each year is the Music of the South Conference, in its 5th year; the Annual Blues Today: A Living Blues Symposium, in its 7th year; and the Annual Southern Foodways Symposium, in its 12th year.
Southeastern Conference sports and the Ole Miss Rebels are a great source of excitement around Oxford and Lafayette County throughout the school year. Fall football game days are replete with tailgate parties and reunions in The Grove, and generate a special atmosphere of energy and fun all around.
