Gumtree Festival Brings Tupelo Out to Celebrate with Music, Food and Fun
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Mother’s Day weekend means more than lunch with Mom in Tupelo. For 35 years‚ it’s also meant heading down to the County Courthouse lawn for the Cellular South GumTree Festival.
Orchestrated by the GumTree Museum of Art‚ the festival is two non-stop days of music‚ activities‚ food and fun. There’s the 5K run‚ the songwriting contest‚ the juried competition for artists and craftspeople – the prize this year was $15‚000 – and new events every year to keep things interesting‚ says Tina Lutz‚ executive director.
“We brought in the Tupelo Symphony Orchestra this year to provide a musical petting zoo‚” Lutz says. “Adults and children learned how to hold a violin correctly‚ make a sound with a French horn‚ get familiar with a lot of the instruments. Everybody loved it‚ and we plan on doing it again next year.”
Another popular new feature was a youth art and activity area headed up by the Scrap Exchange‚ an outfit from Durham‚ N.C.‚ which helps young people turn recyclable materials into crafts.
“They made animals‚ all kinds of things‚” Lutz says. “And we’re right in the midst of talking about curbside recycling in Tupelo‚ so this was a good way to promote that effort in a unique way.”
With 30‚000 in attendance‚ including 100 artists and 15 songwriters in the various competitions‚ the festival’s a sure thing for many years to come.
“It’s great for us‚ and for everybody downtown‚” Lutz says. “The Lyric Theater always has a musical‚ and it usually is their biggest weekend.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Greg Emens
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