Staff Report

While temperatures have dipped below freezing this week and Panola County seems to be experiencing a little winter weather, organizers of Batesville’s 21st annual SpringFest are gearing up for the first of the events that make up the city’s largest entertainment weekend each year.

The popular SpringFest Pageant, open only to Mississippi residents from six months old to age 18, is scheduled for Saturday, March 30, at the Batesville Junior High Auditorium.

Entry forms and the $50 fee are due in just over a month – March 1 – and must be submitted at the offices of Panola Partnership on the Downtown Square.

Applications can be found on the Partnership’s website at www.panolacounty.com by following the Batesville Main Street link there. Entry forms are also available at the Partnership’s offices.

This year’s SpringFest is slated for the weekend of May 17-18. Winners in each division of the pageant are presented on stage during SpringFest, and will ride in the 2019 Batesville Christmas Parade.

For the day of the pageant, the competing groups are for girls 6-23 months, 2-3 years old, 4-5 years, and 6-7 years. Attire for these groups are Sunday or Easter-type dresses, and no pageant style dresses are allowed.

The older girls’ pageant in the afternoon also has four age groups: 8-9, 10-11, 12-14, and 15-18 years old. Miss SpringFest will be chosen from the oldest girls, who will be presented in traditional pageant wear.

Previous year’s winners are not allowed to compete in the same age division. For more information about the pageant, contact the Batesville Main Street office at 563-3126.