PRESS RELEASES

Cotton District Arts Festival Selected STS Top 20 Event

The Southeast Tourism Society has named the Starkville Area Arts Council’s Cotton District Arts Festival one of the “Top 20 Events” for the month of April in 2009.

The STS’s Top 20 program was established by a small group of travel & tourism industry leaders to recognize successful festivals and special events across the southeast dedicated to promoting and developing tourism. Inclusion into this impressive list is chosen by an independent panel of judges evaluating countless nominations to identify 20 events each month in the year. This panel makes their selections based on the event’s quality, entertainment value and the effectiveness of their ongoing marketing and publicity to promote the event and its host town.

Events chosen receive extensive exposure through STS via print media, web sites, television and radio throughout the entire United States as well as Canada. Starkville and the Cotton District Arts Festival will be presented in publications in over 800 newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, plus in numerous other publications who receive this Top 20 listing such as AAA. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also prints the Top 20 Events as a regular quarterly feature of its travel section, and the Top 20 has recently been spotlighted by the New Orleans-based radio show “Travel Talk.”

The Southeast Tourism Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and development of tourism throughout the southeast. Founded in 1983, the STS now encompass a dozen states in the southeast region and a membership of 1,000 individuals. Businesses and organizations belonging to the STS include convention and visitors bureaus, chambers of commerce and tourism authorities, state tourism departments, hotels, resorts and other lodging businesses, national and state parks, travel media, transportation and tour companies, as well as colleges and universities.

“Special thanks are in order for the many volunteers and sponsors who have brought this event to life each year,” said SAAC President Briar Jones. “The festival has continued to grow in both quality and size over the last decade due to the support of our community. The Arts Council is proud to accept this award and hope it will have a positive impact on future festivals.”

The Cotton District Arts Festival is an annual celebration of art and life honoring music, dance, literature, theatre and artisans. The festival is composed of a variety of art villages, art and food competitions, local restaurant vendors and music stages, all located throughout Starkville’s Historic Cotton District. The 2009 Festival will mark the 14th year of this remarkable event.

For more information about the 2009 Cotton District Arts Festival or to become a part of the Starkville Area Arts Council, contact the SAAC office at 662.324.3080 or info@starkvillearts.org.