BY CASEY HOLLIDAY
cahollid@go.olemiss.edu
Spring is (finally) in the air, and now that field parties are over, it means there is one more major event to wrap up the semester: the 18th Annual Double Decker Arts Festival.
Over the last 18 years, Double Decker has grown from a small city event to a festival that draws visitors from all over Mississippi and the surrounding states.
Named after the famous Double Decker buses that can be seen around Oxford, the festival has become a yearly adventure that is about celebrating Oxford and its residents.
The event highlights local Oxford talent, in art, food and music. Held on the Square, Double Decker limits itself to showing off what Oxford residents are doing.
“I applied for a booth at Double Decker and a jury selected me,” said Rachael Durham, coordinator of campus visit programs. “You have to show that you are selling something local and original, and I will be selling local art, basically home decor.”
Part of the tradition of Double Decker is unity. It is one of the few events of the year that bring the city of Oxford and the university together, working together to create something special for the community.
“I feel like it gets people of Oxford and Ole Miss together as one and brings alumni and their families back to the town and just (to) enjoy Oxford rather than focus on a specific event at the university,” Durham said. “It really shows the bond that the university and Oxford share.”
Double Decker has grown tremendously throughout the years. It is now a festival that takes up the entire Square and has something for the entire family.
“I have been going to Double Decker since I was a kid, and it is cool to see how the event changes for me as I have gotten older,” said Mandee Simpson, sophomore English major and longtime Oxford resident. “I have not gotten bored with the festival because, as I have grown up, I see the multitude of other things to do. There really is something for everyone.”
Ole Miss alumna Ann Walker has been coming to Double Decker since the beginning.
“I was at the first Double Decker way back when,” Walker said. “It was much smaller then, and it has been great seeing what it has grown into. It brings me back every year, and it is exciting to see it get bigger and bigger every year. It is just another reason to come back to God’s country.”
Walker said Double Decker truly embodies what Oxford is about: the huge amount of culture contained within 16.5 square miles.
Just as the event is tradition for Oxford, visits to particular vendors have also become a tradition for some fairgoers.
“When it gets nice and crowded, I go in and look at the cool new crafts,” said Douglass Sullivan-González, dean of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. “There is a fellow who makes weather vanes out of different animals, and it is really fun to see how he has evolved over the last 10 years.”
Sullivan-González volunteers with the Amateur Radio Club at Double Decker, which directs runners and monitors the 5k and 10k races.
This year has Double Decker partnered with a hospitality management class to produce the Square Fair, a part of the festival for children that includes space-themed games, face painting and other activities.
This is all part of Double Decker’s tradition of relying upon all of Oxford to produce the best event possible. Walker sees the festival as representative of the city itself.
“What would Oxford be without our culture, our friendliness, our community?” Walker said. “Everything that makes Oxford, well, Oxford is embodied in Double Decker and has become a tradition that my husband and I never miss. It keeps a connection between us and the city.”
