Published: Mar. 25, 2023 at 6:43 PM CDT

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) – Thousands of people visited downtown Hattiesburg Saturday for an annual street festival of food, live entertainment and one-of-a-kind arts and crafts.

It was all part of the 36th Hubfest.

More than 230 arts and crafts and food vendors participated, selling everything from barbecue and crawfish to jewelry, toys, clothing and unique works of art.

“It’s so beautiful out here and the people are mingling and everything is wonderful, you couldn’t ask for a better day,” said Calvin Turner, who was part of the vendor team with Sho-Nuff Smokehouse Q from Picayune.

The host organization for the event was the Area Development Partnership.

“It’s a huge economic impact and we’re bringing people in from from throughout not only metro Hattiesburg, but from throughout the state of Mississippi, and then folks come up from Louisiana and Alabama, Mississippi Gulf Coast, down from Jackson, so it’s definitely the largest tourism single-day event of the year in Hattiesburg,” said Chad Newell, Area Development Partnership president.

Newell said the participation of 22 different corporate sponsors helped keep the event free to the public this year.

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HUBFEST 2023