36th Zonta Festival draws record crowds of shoppers to Pascagoula
PASCAGOULA -- The Zonta Arts and Crafts Festival was practically bursting at the seams Saturday.
The 36th edition of the festival had been scheduled for the first Saturday of October, but the threat of Tropical Storm Karen postponed the annual event until Saturday.
The change didn't matter as a record number of both vendors and festivalgoers packed downtown Pascagoula.
"We're doing really good. I'm really proud of how it has turned out today," Zonta Festival Chairperson Mary Garner said.
Garner estimated 325 to 350 vendors set up shop at the festival, about 30 more than usual.
To accommodate the increase, booths were set up down Watts Avenue, in addition to Delmas, Pascagoula, Canty and Magnolia streets.
"I've been around to a lot of the vendors and they say they're doing good, even our vendors on the new areas like over on Watts Avenue," Garner said. "We have never used that (street) before, but because of the additional vendors we had to have a place to put them."
Find traditional or unique
There were plenty of traditional items such as paintings and signs, but the festival also offered a number of unique items such as natural soaps and bird feeders made out of wine bottles.
"We've got a little bit of everything," Garner said. "Jellies, jams, all kinds of jewelry, woodwork and furniture. "You name it and it's out here."
One of the hits from the festival were Mike and Deborah Lyles' bird feeders.
Taking a nod from bottle trees, the Lyles' wood bird feeders have upside-down wine bottles in the middle to hold the bird seed.
"People like them because they're not something you see very often," Mike Lyles said. "You see bird feeders and bird houses, but not like this."
Only a few hours into their first Zonta Festival, the Lyleses, who live in Laurel, were nearly sold out of feeders.
Creative soaps
Another newcomer to the festival was Pascagoula native Tony Newell.
Newell works at a Biloxi casino, but when he started to think about his future he decided he wanted to give soap-making a try.
"We noticed nobody around here was doing this. I've been to the Zonta Festival before and noticed nobody was selling it, so I decided I wanted to try and sell something different," said Newell, who started "M.A.N. Made Soap" a few months ago.
Scents from Newell's colorful soaps wafted through the crowded intersection in the cool breeze, attracting quite the crowd to his booth.
"He made his first sale before we even opened this morning," said Newell's sister Bridgette Thacker, who was in town from Austin, Texas, to assist her brother's debut. "That was a great sign."
Newell's soaps have creative names like Ode to Elvis, Rolling In The Clover and Monkey Farts -- which, surprisingly, has a pleasant aroma and is a top seller.
"The only surprise to me is I don't think I'd do that well since this was my first rodeo, but it's been good and I'm catching on quick," Newell said. "Everyone seems to like it; they're stopping and taking a whiff of it."
Schedule to consider
Asked if Saturday's success meant the festival may have to consider a new date in 2014, Garner was noncommittal.
"That's something we'll just have to discuss," she said. "That first Saturday in October has been part of Zonta, so I don't know if it will ever be changed or not."
October or November, it doesn't really matter to Mike Lyles.
"I think it's a great festival," he said. "We'll be back."
The 36th edition of the festival had been scheduled for the first Saturday of October, but the threat of Tropical Storm Karen postponed the annual event until Saturday.
The change didn't matter as a record number of both vendors and festivalgoers packed downtown Pascagoula.
"We're doing really good. I'm really proud of how it has turned out today," Zonta Festival Chairperson Mary Garner said.
Garner estimated 325 to 350 vendors set up shop at the festival, about 30 more than usual.
To accommodate the increase, booths were set up down Watts Avenue, in addition to Delmas, Pascagoula, Canty and Magnolia streets.
"I've been around to a lot of the vendors and they say they're doing good, even our vendors on the new areas like over on Watts Avenue," Garner said. "We have never used that (street) before, but because of the additional vendors we had to have a place to put them."
Find traditional or unique
There were plenty of traditional items such as paintings and signs, but the festival also offered a number of unique items such as natural soaps and bird feeders made out of wine bottles.
"We've got a little bit of everything," Garner said. "Jellies, jams, all kinds of jewelry, woodwork and furniture. "You name it and it's out here."
One of the hits from the festival were Mike and Deborah Lyles' bird feeders.
Taking a nod from bottle trees, the Lyles' wood bird feeders have upside-down wine bottles in the middle to hold the bird seed.
"People like them because they're not something you see very often," Mike Lyles said. "You see bird feeders and bird houses, but not like this."
Only a few hours into their first Zonta Festival, the Lyleses, who live in Laurel, were nearly sold out of feeders.
Creative soaps
Another newcomer to the festival was Pascagoula native Tony Newell.
Newell works at a Biloxi casino, but when he started to think about his future he decided he wanted to give soap-making a try.
"We noticed nobody around here was doing this. I've been to the Zonta Festival before and noticed nobody was selling it, so I decided I wanted to try and sell something different," said Newell, who started "M.A.N. Made Soap" a few months ago.
Scents from Newell's colorful soaps wafted through the crowded intersection in the cool breeze, attracting quite the crowd to his booth.
"He made his first sale before we even opened this morning," said Newell's sister Bridgette Thacker, who was in town from Austin, Texas, to assist her brother's debut. "That was a great sign."
Newell's soaps have creative names like Ode to Elvis, Rolling In The Clover and Monkey Farts -- which, surprisingly, has a pleasant aroma and is a top seller.
"The only surprise to me is I don't think I'd do that well since this was my first rodeo, but it's been good and I'm catching on quick," Newell said. "Everyone seems to like it; they're stopping and taking a whiff of it."
Schedule to consider
Asked if Saturday's success meant the festival may have to consider a new date in 2014, Garner was noncommittal.
"That's something we'll just have to discuss," she said. "That first Saturday in October has been part of Zonta, so I don't know if it will ever be changed or not."
October or November, it doesn't really matter to Mike Lyles.
"I think it's a great festival," he said. "We'll be back."
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