SPOKE ‘N WORD WEEKEND in the Best Southern Small Town

06/13/22 – New Albany’s Main Street is excited to announce its June festival, Spoke ‘N Word Weekend. The Best Southern Small Town will have two days of community fun. This is the third year for Spoke ‘N Word which includes a bicycle ride, storytelling activities, and free live music, and is a project that is partially funded by a grant through Visit Mississippi.

Thursday, June 23rd will be an evening for locals and visitors to Unwine’d and SHOP the BLOCK in historic downtown New Albany. From 5-8pm W. Bankhead Street will be closed from The Tanglefoot Plaza to Barkley Travel for safe pedestrian travel. This is an opportunity to shop local and give local as over 25 Main Street retailers welcome shoppers in for after hours shopping. Each of these store owners will donate 10% of all sales to The Boys and Girls Club of New Albany. There will be food trucks, live music from Monty J & Element, and children’s games and storytelling at Cooper Park. Shoppers interested in participating in sampling sips of wine while enjoying after hours shopping can do so by purchasing a ticket on newalbanymainstreet.com or calling the Main Street office 662-534-3438.

“Our Boys and Girls Club offers incredible leadership, career development, educational, and recreational opportunities to the children in our community, after school and throughout the summer”, said Main Street staffer Tracy Vainisi, adding, “Donations offer the club extra support and we are hoping to rally the community to help them by shopping from 5-8pm on Thursday the 23rd.”

Saturday June 25th starts at 7:30am with Pedaling for Hope bicycle ride, an awareness and fundraising event for Main Street and Tupelo’s Regional Rehab Center. Anyone wishing to sign up can go to raceroster.com and search Pedaling for Hope on the Tanglefoot Trail. A kids fun ride is included as well as an afterparty with music from Cherry Creek and lunch from El Agave Mexican Grill, Game Tyme, and Manning’s BBQ, and storytelling activities at the Union County Library.

Later that afternoon, at 4pm, The Union County Courthouse will be host to the annual Sam Mosley Freedom Fest. Local bands The Dukes, Inspirational Hour with the Johnsons, Senseless, and Southern Soul and Company will share their stories through music and set the mood for an evening of community fun. Food trucks, family activities, and fireworks will round out the festive vibe.

For more information about Unwine’d and Shop the Block, Pedaling for Hope, or Sam Mosley Freedom Fest contact Tracy at visitnewalbany@gmail.com or Billye Jean at 662-534-3438 with questions.