Taken on April 12, 2012 in Tupelo at the Up, Up, and Away Hot Air Balloon Festival with a Nikon Coolpix S3000.

2012 Gumtree Arts Festival Promotional Poster

I feel like I’ve been writing a lot lately about events happening in my town, Tupelo, Mississippi. But there’s so many great events going on this time of year, it’s hard not to. This weekend is the 41st Annual Gumtree Festival. The Gumtree Festival is all about the arts; painting, photography, sculpture, music, jewelry, etc. It’s been a staple event in Tupelo since it’s first year in 1972.

Since that time, it’s grown into a large gathering of artists and those seeking art and entertainment. Events at the festival include a singer/songwriter competition, multiple art display, silent art auction, youth writing contest, ballet, and music concerts. You can find unique and beautiful original paintings, sculpture, jewelry and other artwork to view or purchase. The festival this year is showcasing over 100 artists from 17 different states. What I love about these kind of festivals, is that there is plenty of stuff to do and look at for free. You can take the whole family out, have a good time without spending next weeks lunch money.

One of many art displays at this years Gumtree Festival.

Can't remember who these guys were, but they sounded great!

A few fun things for the children included a rock climbing wall, several blow-up toys for them to jump and bounce around on, and a mechanical bull. That’s right, a mechanical bull! That was entertaining to watch these kids 10 years old and younger trying to hang on to this.

Yee - Hawww!! Ride'em Cowboy!

When I said there were all kinds of events in Tupelo this time of year, I wasn’t joking. Last week was the Blue Suede Cruise Classic Car show, this weekend is the Gumtree Festival. Next weekend is the 9th Annual Tupelo Film Festival, and then at the end of the month will be the Elvis Presley Festival. It’s a busy month here in Tupelo.

There was a sign at the main entrance to let you know exactly what kind of vehicle was and wasn’t welcome on the inside. I don’t know the number of classics that were entered, but I would guess 300+….and that’s strictly a guesstimate. I was just informed that there were over 750 entered. So there were a lot, and there was variety….something for everyone. They had muscle cars, 4×4′s, pick-up trucks, rat rods, old time family sedans and wagons, etc. Although I like them all well enough, I tend to prefer the ones that are restored to original condition the most. I like them to look like they just rolled out of the factory.

My Dad and I rode in on our motorcycles, and walked around for about an hour. My Dad is the kind of guy that can tell you the model year of a vehicle before you have a chance to get a good look…and more times than not, he was right on. We only walked around the parking lot of the Bancorpsouth Arena. I believe there were additional vehicles on the inside of the arena, and across the street in the parking lot of the Tupelo Automobile Museum.

If you live in the mid-south part of the U.S., and are into this sort of thing, I think this is THE car show to go to each year, and it doesn’t cost anything to walk around and look. I took a number of pictures, and I’ll share a few of them here.

*I know that Mini Cooper isn’t a classic car, but it was so stinkin’ cool, I had to include it.

**All of these photos were taken with a Nikon Coolpix S3000(Point-and-shoot).

I took this photo at the Zoo in Memphis, TN on 4/6/12.

It was amazing how real they looked from a distance. The fact that they moved and growled and spit water were all pluses. Here are a few photos taken to mark the event.

It was good day. The Memphis Zoo did a great job on this exhibit. One thing to note is that the only way out of this exhibit is straight through the gift shop, which has everything you can imagine for dinosaur lovers. For parents, they really set you up.

Cheap Handlebar Camera Mount for Motorcycle - made from a bicycle reflector bracket.