2010 Double Decker Festival in Oxford, Mississippi

The 2010 Double Decker Festival will be held in Oxford, Mississippi, on Saturday, April 24, 2010. Each Spring, the small town of Oxford hosts a multitude of music, food, crafts and entertainment. 2010 should be no exception.

The Double Decker Festival is named in honor or a Double Decker style bus imported from England in 1994. The bus is used for transporting visitors during special events in Oxford, and tours will be available during the Festival.

Activities for the festival take place around the Oxford Courthouse, The Square as it is known by locals, where booths will be set up for vendors from all over to feature their arts and crafts. One of the things that differs at the Double Decker as opposed to a lot of small town fairs is that the booths will generally feature more artistic creations, such as paintings and sculptures, although there are always a nice assortment of other things.

Events kick off for the festival with a 10K Run, 5K Run, 5K Walk and Ride for the kids on a course laid out through the Oxford and University of Mississippi area. Later, during the Festival, there will be many fun activities for the kids on The Square. One important change this year, though, are that pets will not be allowed on The Square after 2:00 p.m.

For those more interested in riding than running, at 9:00 on Saturday morning, there will be a course planned through the rolling hills of Lafayette County for bike riders. Bicyclists can ride anywhere from 10 miles to 66 miles tours. Riders can be assured that there will be three rest stops and mechanical aid available in the event it is needed.

Every year at the festival, a number of the restaurants in Oxford serve many of their more popular dishes. Oxford has a number of well-recognized restaurants containing excellent chefs. The Double Decker offers visitors and locals a chance to sample some of the award-winning food offered by their establishments.

One new addition to this year's Double Decker Festival will be Oxford's new police on horseback patrolling downtown. Oxford initiated the idea of horseback patrol recently because of the popular downtown area during other Oxford activities, such as football games at Ole Miss. Since The Square area in downtown is blocked off, this adds a dimension of safety to the area.

With two stages set up on opposite sides of The Square in downtown Oxford, a large assortment of music will be offered beginning around noon and go into late night on Saturday. Some featured guests this year include Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Jimbo Mathus, Mayhem String Band, Young Buffalo, Captain Midnight, Wiley and the Checkmates, American Aquarium and Machine Gun Kelley and the G Men and many more.

Past Double Decker Festivals have brought in more than 30,000 people into the small town of Oxford, and this year should be no exception. It's a great place to get some good food, listen to some good down-home blues and visit with the local folks. All in all, it's a good ole Southern fun time.

Sources:

"The Oxford Eagle" Newspaper
"The Daily Journal" Newspaper, Tupelo, MS
www.oxfordcvb.com/doubledecker/2010/index.html