A festival designed to highlight awareness of Howard County’s rich historical heritage and showcase the area’s contemporary culture and entertainment is scheduled to take place the fist Saturday in August.
Final preparations are being put in place for the 11th annual Fayette Festival of the Arts coming up Saturday, Aug. 3, with a full schedule of performances and activities running from 9 a.m. to approximately 4 p.m.
The festival again takes place in and around Howard County’s historic courthouse square in the heart of Fayette, in addition to two locations on the nearby Central Methodist University campus.
The event has become the premiere summer happening in Fayette and again will include a variety of live music performances from the Howard County Memorial Bandstand and the courthouse yard, in addition to the 20th annual Fayette Art Show which as always will be displayed in two separate locations — inside the courthouse and in CMU’s Ashby-Hodge Gallery of American Art located in Classic Hall on campus.
New this year will be tours of the recently-dedicated Central History Museum located in CMU’s T. Berry Smith Hall. A number of displays, photos and artifacts are on display, including items from the Civil War and both World Wars.
Persons with limited walking abilities will have available shuttles to and from the courthouse and the campus.
Art show entrants will include those entering as adult professional, adult amateur, and youth (elementary, middle school, and high school). First, second and third place ribbons will be awarded in six entry fields: painting (acrylic and oil), painting (watercolor or pastel), drawing, photography, sculpture, and varied media – plus special awards such as people’s choice. First place winners will receive cash prizes.
Entry forms are available from the festival web-site, www.fayettefestival.org.
Youth works will be displayed exclusively inside the courthouse. Adult works, professional and amateur, will be shown in CMU’s Ashby-Hodge Gallery of American Art. Exhibits at both sites will be open for public viewing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Also at the festival will be food vendors of different varieties, plus beverages and ice cream served by local celebrities and government officials. Free water will be available. Displays and activities on the courthouse lawn and adjacent streets will include vintage vehicles, a Dutch oven demonstration, historic presentations, various craft displays; public safety displays, and a free bounce house for the kids. A local group known as P.A.W.S. (Pet Adoption Welfare Service) will set up on the courthouse lawn with adoptable pets in tow.
New this year will be a public safety display from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Except for refreshments all offerings are free. A record number of vendors is expected this year.
“The festival is designed to highlight awareness of Howard County’s rich historical heritage, in addition to showcasing this area’s contemporary culture and entertainment,” notes retiring general coordinator Jim Steele, former publisher of the Fayette newspapers. “Most of those who will perform this year are professional musicians,” he notes.
Taking over direction of the festival this year is Fayette resident Glenn Ludtke, a retired music educator with extensive experience in planning festivals and special events.
Best known of the scheduled musical organizations is the Columbia Community Band which will play beginning at 11 a.m. (The group has been a traditional favorite for many years dating back to a predecessor event known as the Great Fayette Freeze Off which took place from 2000 through 2008.) A Quilt of Valor presentation will be part of the performance.
Returning to the festival for the fourth year by popular demand will be a vocal trio from Marshall known as the Morton Sisters who will perform at approximately 10; 15 a.m. and 2:20 p.m. They sing a variety of genres and styles in tight three-part harmony creating a blend taking listeners back to the sounds of the Andrews, McGuire, and Lennon Sisters.
Another group scheduled to perform is a New Orleans-style jazz band known as Doc and Friends which has been a long-time festival favorite. It is directed by CMU’s retired Swinney Conservatory Dean Ron Shroyer. The group will play at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. In the first performance they will be joined by Central Methodist University President Roger Drake who in an earlier lifetime was an accomplished country music performer on keyboard and other instruments.
Other performers on the schedule include Faith Family Church musicians presenting Gospel & Patriotic Music They will open the festival at 9 a.m., Two other popular groups are returning from past years – The Show-Me Brass Band at 9:35 a.m. and the Just Friends jazz combo at 1:15 p.m.
New this year will be a performance by Armstrong resident Randy Edwards and his one-man band at 2 p.m.
The annual cake contest and auction, a longtime part of the festival, will take place following the performance of the Columbia Community Band, with proceeds going 50-50 to the Fayette Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry and to the festival for operational expenses. Cakes will be judged in both adult and youth categories, with first, second and third place prizes in each group. Mark Belcher again will serve as auctioneer.
The south side of the courthouse square will be reserved for a display of classic cars and trucks, in addition to fire engines and other emergency responder vehicles.
Also, local artist Millie Haggard will do an interpretive presentation describing the Howard County history mural in the circuit courtroom (courthouse second floor) starting at noon.
The festival is sponsored by the Fayette Area Heritage Association (FAHA) with support from a number of other community organizations, businesses and individuals. Jim Steele again will serve as master of ceremonies.
More information, along with entry forms for the art contest &cake contest, available at www.fayettefestival.org.