The Kosciusko Attala Partnership is gearing up to present the Central Mississippi Fair Exhibit & Wildlife Expo.
The weeklong festivities will be held Aug. 15 through Aug. 19 at the Attala County Coliseum.
The 112-year Kosciusko tradition will be a little different this year.
“We’re still going under the logo Central Mississippi Fair,” said Pati Edwards, KAP coordinator of operations and special events, although the fair aspect of the event will not be available this year because of current construction work and lack of space outside the coliseum.
But she said, “It’ll be a full week. There’s still a lot to do.”
The Wildlife Expo is going to be much larger this year. The expo will feature a variety of vendor booths.
“That’s going to be huge,” said Edwards. “Plus, we will have all of our exhibits, like art, photography, home division, youth division, perishable exhibits, vegetables, flower, and tasty, creative treats. All of that will be back as usual.”
Exhibit registration will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 15.
“Our art and photography exhibits are huge here. We have a great turnout for that,” said Edwards.
The Wildlife Expo will be open Aug. 16 from 2 to 7 p.m.
“This is the first year we’ve had something as big as this Wildlife Expo, so we’re hoping to pull a lot of people in,” said Edwards.
Exhibits can be viewed Aug. 16 and Aug. 17 from 2 to 7 p.m. each day. The exhibits will be judged from 9 a.m. to noon on Aug. 16.
Edwards said the exhibit registration is the most exciting part of the event to her.
“You can just see the pride in people who have canned pears or bring in fresh pears off the tree or a flower,” she said. “People are proud of the stuff that they raise and do. It means a lot.”
The Community Sports Challenge will be held at 6 p.m. on Aug. 18 at the coliseum. This year’s game will be dodgeball. The game was picked by last year’s winning team. The team that wins this year will choose the sport next year.
On Aug. 19, Senior Day will be held from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and will include food and refreshments, bingo with the mayor, live entertainment, information booths and vendors, and prizes. Last year, 62 vendors participated.
The event is free of charge to attend.
A longtime important part of the exhibit will not be there this year. Jo Betty Thomas passed away in January at age 83. “She was the legend out there,” said Edwards. “She will be greatly missed.”
