A Delta Tradition Continues in Cleveland, Mississippi.

Over 50 years ago, a group of creative and passionate people had a wild idea to establish a festival celebrating the arts and culture of the MS Delta.  Without marketing teams to evaluate audience reactions or agonizing over fancy promotional materials to draw crowds, folks got to work to make real that idea. Every year the buzz to be even better than the previous, Crosstie Arts & Jazz Festival volunteers get busy behind the scenes, taking up the roles established so many years ago. The thing about Crosstie that you may not notice each year is that the very existence of the festival is a testament to the volunteer spirit and willingness to work hard for the betterment of the entire community. 

There’s a little known fact that the rich yellow color familiar to long-time fans of the Crosstie Arts & Jazz Festival was quite simply, a snap, frugal decision.  The golden yellow of Crosstie just happened to be the cheapest, brightest and longest bolt of material at the fabric store.  Someone could have offered a new color or ‘freshened up’ the extremely noticeable 1970’s yellow but there have been more important things to accomplish throughout the half-century of commitment and success.  

Since its first festival held along the railroad tracks zippered down Cleveland’s long epicenter, artists and community have mingled over a common, passionate cause – to explore and appreciate the arts. Booths were staked out with what was handy at the time while cotton trailers with flat tires were brought in to serve as temporary walls for arts of every kind. Nestled around bushes and tucked under trees, the festival spent several years along its namesake, the railroad crossties. It was a very organic and honest experience where friends shared appreciation for various arts. New and seasoned artists found their life-long patrons and occasionally, someone who thought they didn’t know a thing about art felt a little more confident after purchasing their first piece.

The characters and personalities credited with beginning Cleveland’s long-standing Crosstie Arts & Jazz Festival have exhausted their youth for good cause. They created a sustainable source of community pride and a supportive environment for new and experienced artists. Volunteers have changed faces over the years as have the recognized artists who seemed to always find their way back, year after year; however, the spirit of Crosstie blooms again each Spring.