Jubilee Festival held in Daphne

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The 32nd-annual festival took place in Lott Park in Daphne, a few blocks north of its past location in downtown Daphne. The event, which is sponsored by the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce, was moved to the park to allow more room for social distancing.

The festival had been scheduled for Sept. 26 and 27 but was postponed after Hurricane Sally struck the area on Sept. 16.

Casey Gay Williams, chamber president, said large crowds turned out despite the changes.

“We are packed,” Williams said. “We have a full show. Everybody’s here. We have had this crowd since before 10 o’clock. The food court is all back there. They have been very busy. Everybody’s just so excited something outdoors so they can enjoy the weather.”

One exhibit drawing attention was an environmental art competition by high school art students. Young artists had to create artwork depicting Mobile Bay creatures and scenes using trash that had washed up on the shore.

Fairhope High School art teacher Kristina McClay said students have been working on the project since the start of the school year. Some of the Fairhope designs included an alligator, sturgeon and redfish.

“The chamber came up with the theme for the contest and it was jubilee with recycled materials, recycled trash. I had the students draw in their sketchbook in two dimensions and then then had to figure out how they were going to make it three dimensional and then how they were going to make the supports for it,” McClay said. “A lot them got really creative with their materials and then figured out how they were going to use the materials in the structure, such as the Croc shoe on the alligator.”

Williams said that despite the pandemic, many artists applied to take part in the show.

“We have a lot of artists here who are here for the first time because there are no other art shows, so they found us,” Williams said. “We could have had 20 more artists if we’d had room.”

Artist Jennifer Bullard said she drove to Daphne from her home in Oklahoma. A Fairhope native, she said she has been taking part in the show for about three years.

“I’m visiting my mom in the Fruits and Nuts District and doing the show,” Bullard said. I also do the Fairhope Outdoor Arts Show at the Arts Center. It was so sad when it was canceled.”

The Fairhope Outdoor Art Show, put on by the Eastern Shore Art Center in March, was canceled due to the pandemic.

Bullard said the pandemic and art show cancelations had hit many artists.

“I would say 60 percent of my income from doing arts shows comes in March and April and that just went away,” Bullard said.