Batesville’s annual spring music festival has a new name and a fresh approach to the weekend of family fun that has continually grown in attendance and activities in the past 23 years.

Mamie Avery, director of the Batesville Main Street Program announced this week that the festival, called Springfest since its inception, is now the Up In Smoke Food & Music Festival. This year’s dates are May 12-13.

The highlight of the Downtown Square festival will be the new Steak-Off Cooking Competition that will begin late Friday afternoon and continue all day Saturday.

Saturday morning will begin with a Color Me Happy fun color run on the Square for children. The Mississippi Cornhole Tournament, more popular each spring, will start early Saturday with bags flying for prizes and tournament points.

Junior Auxiliary of Batesville will sponsor its regular Kids Corner with activities for children all day. 

The music lineup begins Friday at 6 p.m. with Casey Lipe & Friends and continues with Peyton Aldridge at 8 p.m. 

On Saturday, the music stage will feature Belle Franz at 1 p.m., The Wilkins Sisters at 2:30 p.m., The Reverend Robert Mortimer at 4 p.m., Southern Groove Redemption at 5:30 p.m., and City Mix at 7 p.m.

Oxford’s Mustache The Band will be the main draw, scheduled to take the stage at 8:30 p.m.

Noticeably absent will be the traveling carnival rides usually set up on the east side of the Square. Instead, that area will be reserved for the Steak-Off competition, which will be open to the public to mingle with the cooking teams.

Avery said moving the carnival stop in Batesville to another weekend, and perhaps location, will allow the Up In Smoke festival to concentrate on the other events lined up for the weekend. She added that other activities will be put on the schedule in the next month.