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HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) – Excitement and anticipation are in the air as HUBFEST returns this weekend after a two-year hiatus, HUBFEST is set to return this weekend.
The annual event begins Saturday at 9 a.m. and will continue until 5 p.m.
“Normally we have around 30,000 people throughout the day. So hopefully we can increase that number this year, because it hasn’t been there for about two years,” says Stancey Collins, a member of the Hattiesburg Area Development Partnership.
ADP has organized HUBFEST for several years with the help of the Downtown Hattiesburg Association.
For those attending the festival this year, be prepared for traffic detours and street closures.
“It’s Front Street, West Pine Street, Main Street, down to Town Square Park, Walnut Street. This whole central area because we’ll have vendors everywhere. And it really is the biggest event happening downtown,” says Andrea Saffle, Executive Director of Downtown Hattiesburg.
Once attendees survive the traffic and find a place to park, they’ll likely be hungry. Fortunately, several downtown restaurants will be open with a few guests.
“We’re going to have over 200 craft, business, and food vendors… No, they should definitely come hungry. We’ve got about 50 food vendors, so they should be ready to defiantly eat,” Collins says .
Once attendees have grabbed some food, they can drop off the kids at the Kids Zone. The area will have a jump house, obstacle courses and bungee jumping.
“We actually have three Kids Zones. So we have the Healthy Kids Zones which are our main Kids Zone. Then we have two more kids areas, I believe, here on East Pine and then on Bushman,” says Collins.
Last but not least, there will be four different areas in the city center where you can listen to live music.
The biggest stage will be on Main Street, and a very special guest will take the stage at 3:30 p.m.
“Lainey Wilson is the headliner, so we’re super, super excited to have her. She just won a few country music awards, so we’re really thrilled for her,” Collins said.
As a bonus, attendees can download the Grandstand app and it will direct you to everything you need to know about HUBFEST.
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