PICAYUNE – The arts, history and music of the past will come to life at the eighth annual Piney Woods Heritage Festival at Mississippi State University’s Crosby Arboretum Nov. 12-13 in Picayune.

Preregistered school groups will visit from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Nov. 12. The cost is $2 per child, and the admission is waived for teachers, chaperones and bus drivers. The general public is invited to attend Nov. 13 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The general public admission is $2 for children and $5 for adults.

The festival will include exhibits and demonstrations of blacksmithing, woodcarving, spinning and basket making. Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn about the wildlife that settlers encountered in the region years ago.

“The festival offers the chance for people to learn about early days of the Piney Woods region through arts, crafts and music,” said Pat Drackett, the arboretum’s senior curator. “We’ll have bluegrass, dulcimer and clogging performances. The whole arboretum will be alive with music and activity.”

The New Orleans-based band Hazel and the Delta Ramblers will perform traditional bluegrass music on Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. The group has performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for the last 20 years. Ticket price for the concert is $5 for arboretum members and $3 for members’ children, and $10 for nonmembers and $6 for nonmembers’ children.

MSU’s Crosby Arboretum is located in Picayune at 370 Ridge Road. Take Exit 4 off Interstate 59.

To learn more or to preregister a school group, call the arboretum at (601) 799-2311.

Writer: Karen Templeton