Festivals
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Ocean Springs Fresh Market
Ocean Springs Fresh Market is an open air Saturday marekt with food and plant growers offering plants, flowers, locally grown fruits and vegetables. Open rain or shine each Saturday at the L&N Depot Plaza in downtown Ocean Springs.
Mardi Gras
Celebrate Mardi Gras season on the Mississippi Gulf Coast with the first parade of the season in Ocean Springs. Hosted by the Elks Lodge, nearly 100 floats grace downtown offering beads and trinkets to festival goers.Ocean Springs Night Parade hosted by the Ocean Springs Carnival Association lights up the night in downtown with floats, music and more.
St. Patrick's Day
St Patrick’s Day is held downtown, uptown all around town each St. Patrick’s Day in Ocean Springs featuring specials at shops, galleries and restaurants. The evening time comes alive with music, drink specials and more.
Battle on the Bayou
Battle on the Bayou is an annual kayak race in Ocean Springs and one of the largest in the state. For experienced and novice, the competition welcomes kayaks, canoes, and stand up paddle boards for a 9.5 mile race through Old Fort Bayou Blueways.
Spring Arts Festival: Herb, Garden & Art
Spring Arts Festival: Herb, Garden & Art held the last weekend in March is a celebration of spring and the arts with more than 100 artists, crafters and plant booths. The event is an outdoor festival set amongst the historic live oaks in downtown Ocean Springs. Partnering with the local arts community the festival emphasizes community arts and nature.
Click here to go to the Spring Arts Festival website!
1699 Weekend of Discovery
1699 Weekend of Discovery celebrates the history and discovery of Ocean Springs founded in 1699. Hosted by the 1699 Historical Society of Ocean Springs the weekend kicks off with a full dress presentation and reception, followed by a celebration with a 5 K run/walk, special mass, boat regatta, children’s pet parade and the full dress reenactment at Fort Maurepas Park on Front Beach.
Taste of Ocean Springs Food & Wine Festival
Taste of Ocean Springs Food & Wine Festival celebrates the dining culture of Ocean Springs featuring savory tastes from a selection of our restaurants. As a kick off to Restaurant Week, the month also features prix fixed fun menus at participating restaurants, Free Food Friday giveaways and more.
The Annual Red, White & Blueberry Festival
The Annual Red, White & Blueberry Festival is a community, family-fun event held in conjunction with the Ocean Springs Fresh Market featuring numerous vendors, blueberry recipes, free vanilla ice-cream topped with blueberries and strawberries, entertaining cooking sessions and more.
Sidewalk Sale
July Sidewalk Sale is held each July downtown, uptown, all around town at participating businesses. For two days, participating shops, restaurants and galleries will display their summer specials in front of their businesses and inside with deals such as 20%-75% off on clothing, shoes, jewelry, artwork, toys, food, drinks and much more. Some businesses will also feature artist demonstrations and live music.
Artwalk Downtown Ocean Springs
Artwalk Downtown Ocean Springs is an annual event held over Labor Day weekend showcasing a mixture of potters, painters, sculptors, and more as they partner on the sidewalks of local boutiques, galleries and restaurants in downtown. Artists partner with local businesses to bring together creative commerce.
The Ocean Springs Artwalk gives you an opportunity to watch artist in action. This festival that takes place every August in downtown Ocean Springs features a mixture of potters, painters, sculptors, mixed media artists, and more. Come to the Art Walk and shop for local art, eat and drink at more than 30 restaurants, and mingle with locals and tourists alike in our small boutiques, shops and galleries.
Cruisin' the Coast
Cruisin’ the Coast is an annual event hosted by the Cruisin’ the Coast committee which welcomes more than 5,000 classic cars to the Mississippi Gulf coast. Over the course of a week, classic cars cruise around enjoying activities at different venues including three days in Ocean Springs with a Friday Night Sock Hop and Stree Party, Chics Picks Car Contest, live music and more.
Trick or Treat Down the Street
Sponsored annually by the Historic Ocean Springs Association (HOSA), the Halloween event draws people and families from not only across the city, but other communities as well, to have fun in a safe, family-oriented environment.
The city shuts down the north section of Washington Avenue from Porter Avenue to Robinson Street, as well as the western end of Government Street, to allow trick-or-treaters to roam freely about the streets, collecting candy and other goodies from local businesses along the streets — the vast majority of whom participate in the event, with many donning costumes of their own.
Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival
Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival presented by Blue Moon is held the first full weekend in November each year. Known as the largest fine arts festival in the state, this event brings in more than 400 artists, crafters and food vendors, a state-wide blue moon art contest, and more than 150,000 individuals to Ocean Springs.
Each year on the first weekend of November thousands of people travel from all over the United States for The Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival. The festival was created as a way to increase public awareness of local artists and businesses and to honor master potter, Peter Anderson. What began as a small celebration by a group of local artists has now grown into one of the Southeast’s premiere arts and crafts festivals bringing more than 100,000 people to historic Ocean Springs annually. This renowned festival is now presented by Blue Moon Brewing and includes the Blue Moon Art Project competition which gives artists from across the state an opportunity to artfully create an interpretation of Blue Moon and a chance to win $2,000.
Click here to apply to the Peter Anderson Festival!
Annual Tree Lighting
Annual Tree Lighting is a community event held to celebrate the holiday season with the arrival of Santa Claus to town and the lighting of the town Christmas Tree. Christmas carols, refreshments, letters to the North Pole provided by the U.S. Postal Service and more are part of this event.
Holiday Open House
Holiday Open House is a celebration of holiday festivities in Ocean Springs downtown, uptown, all around town at participating shops, restaurants and galleries. Local businesses will come alive with Christmas cheer offering holiday specials, warm refreshments, live music, Santa sightings and more during the two-day event.