Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival

The Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival, billed as the largest arts festival in Mississippi and the Gulf Coast, fills downtown Ocean Springs with more than 400 artists, crafters and food vendor booths under the live oak trees, surrounded by locally owned shops, restaurants and galleries. It was created to honor master potter Peter Anderson, the original potter of Shearwater Pottery, founded in 1928, and to celebrate the arts community. Many artists demonstrate their work at their booths, painting, sculpting and firing pottery, with live music around the venue and a hands-on marine education area led by the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory of the University of Southern Mississippi. The festival rolls rain or shine.

Our take: Leave pets at home if you can, since organizers say too many tiny toes get stepped on, and any pets must stay leashed.