March 2013
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Today in Mississippi
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15
zoni l e B By Nancy Jo Maples Catfish and catfish lovers will be the craze next month when Belzoni welcomes the world to its World Catfish Festival. Where else can a person meet a Catfish Queen and eat all the catfish they can stomach? April 6 will mark the town’s 38th annual celebration. Events start at 8 a.m. with 10-K and 5-K runs, plus one for fun. Activities will continue until 4 p.m. with live music and food which, of course, primarily consists of catfish. In addition to vendors selling catfish entrees, burgers and tacos, festival goers will have a chance to enter the eat-as-much-catfish-as-you-can contest. That event is set for 2:30 p.m. Another highlight of the day will be a drawing for $1,000 cash. Situated in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, Belzoni and Humphreys County have all the ingredients for a day like this. Music and catfish are the heartbeats of this region. This year’s musical slate showcases Southern Halo, Kudzu Station, Columbus Toy and On the Run Band. Belzoni’s music history includes blues piano man Pinetop Perkins and blues songwriter/singer Denise LaSalle. Both have Mississippi Blues Trail markers in town detailing their roots in Humphreys County. Hosting a catfish festival here makes sense. Mississippi farmers market more than half of all the farm-raised catfish in the United States, and Humphreys County carries a large portion of that
At Belzoni’s World Catfish Festival, competitors eat their fill and more in the catfish-eating contest. Captain Catfish, above right, greets visitors who come for catfish, music, crafts and the crowning of catfish queens.
percentage. In farm-raised catfish production the county boasts 8,100 acres, almost a tenth of the national acreage of catfish farms. Catfish are such an icon of Belzoni that the town features 42 whimsically painted fiberglass catfish. The county’s art council promoted the idea a few years ago. Today 5-foot tall catfish decorate the town dressed in brightly colored garments that depict the businesses that sponsor them. For example, the catfish outside the local hospital is painted like Florence Nightingale. Another one on a city sidewalk is called “Blues Cat.” He is painted blue and sports an orange blazer, brimmed hat and an acoustic guitar. In addition to the musical slate and the catfish-eating contest, the coronations of youth and teenaged catfish queens are among the day’s highlights. The Little Miss Catfish pageant is at 10 a.m. and the Miss
Catfish pageant begins at noon. Event coordinators expect about 10,000 visitors to fill the downtown area streets where the day’s activities will take place and where approximately 150 craft booths will exhibit wares. The festival is touted as a family event filled with free activities for adults and a free kids’ zone. Belzoni Garden Club members will perform in a production of “The Wizard of Oz” at 11 a.m. and again at 1 p.m. at The Depot Theater. Admission costs $1. Belzoni launched its World Catfish Festival in 1976 and reportedly drew 3,000 visitors that year. Since then, its popularity has grown and its success placed it on a list of the Top 100 Events in North America and the Top 20 Events in the Southeast. Belzoni was named for Italian explorer and engineer Giovanni Battista Belzoni. In addition to catfish and blues, it is known as the home of some of the largest bald cypress trees in the world. One with a circumference of more than 46 feet grows in the Sky Lake Wildlife Management Area north of town. Another fact for which the area is known involves one of its late preachers who possibly could have been the first black person to die in the pursuit of civil rights in America. Some historians allege that Rev. George W. Lee was shot to death in 1955 because he had registered to vote and had encouraged other blacks to register. Whether you seek cypress trees, history, blues or fish with whiskers and fins, the World Catfish Festival can satisfy your soul. Hope to see you there.