The Yoknapatawpha Arts Council (YAC) is excited to announce its annual Hoka Days arts festival in the month of August. This month-long festival will be filled with free arts events in the community and will kick off on August 4th and 5th with The Sanctuary Arts Festival. YAC invites everyone to come out and celebrate local artists in honor of the spirit of Ron Shapiro.
Each year, the Arts Council has hosted an art sampler during the month of August. The annual Hoka Days arts festival is a community-wide experience focused on celebrating the wide range of talents and cultural opportunities found within our community and inviting the community to take a chance on new experiences. The events range from Theatre Oxford plays, block parties, concerts, improv comedy shows, dance performances, and much more.
The month will kick off with The Sanctuary Arts Festival on August 4th and 5th at The Graduate Oxford. Presented by Campbell Clinic and with the help of Oxford Magazine, this weekend will recognize a variety of Mississippi artists by featuring an art crawl, studio tours, and cocktail hours in Graduate Oxford’s ballroom.
Wayne Andrews, YAC’s executive director, expressed the uniqueness of this festival and how it benefits our community: “This event inspires individuals within our community to try something new while supporting artists and their craft. It encourages people to broaden their horizons and even find a new passion for the arts.”
Hoka Days was designed to honor and remember the memory of Ron Shapiro, a past board member of the Arts Council, the Oxford Film Festival, a supporter of numerous community organizations, and one of the community influencers who helped keep Oxford just a little bit odd. Ron’s continuous efforts to showcase and share music, food, film, and culture with the entire community from The Hoka to the Main Squeeze or just walking the Square and inviting those he knew to the next cultural opportunity made him a community connector.
The Hoka Days Second Line & Community Concert on August 25 will wrap up this festival by providing a New Orleans-inspired second line from Graduate Oxford to The Powerhouse for a free community concert. You can view the full Hoka Days Festival schedule of events today at www.OxfordArts.com.
