INSIGHT Magazine May 2015 | Page 18

from the Calhoun County area, selling handmade goods with a range diverse enough to see visitors leave the festival grounds with honey and wooden furniture in one trip. The music offerings are varied, as well, with four main bands handling the day’s official musical accompaniment. Each group has at least one foot in bluegrass, with raucous tribe The Rattlesnake Rattlers, elder statesmen Foggy Hollow, folk-rockers The Gypsy Begonias and fiddle and mandolin equipped trio A Quarter Short rounding out the rustic, familyfriendly, Appalachian stylings. In addition to the official bands, a day-long band competition will run at the nearby Oxford Performing Arts Center, with bands competing for stage time and a grand prize of $1,000. The competition is free to watch and visitors can come and go as they please INSIGHT throughout the day. Live demonstrations by local crafters will also show off some of Lickskillet’s handiwork, with the Parker Memorial woodcarvers creating sculpture art out of logs, and bookbinding techniques for making beautiful journals and art books by Mo Fiorella, a University of Alabama graduate who runs her own binding business online. Be sure to visit lickskilletfestival.com for more updates as they become available and to learn more about the history of Lickskillet, find vendor applications and volunteer information. The Legend of Lickskillet Music and Heritage Festival is May 23 from 10 am - 6 pm at the cross of Choccolocco and Main Street in downtown Oxford. Admission is free. Visit the festival’s event page on Facebook for more. ❉ May 2015