Pine Hill Festival celebrates local businesses and fun in Wiggins

Over in Stone County, one of the biggest celebrations of Downtown Wiggins took place over the weekend.

Just off East Pine Avenue in Downtown Wiggins this past weekend, you may have run into an unusual traffic jam as many packed into small-town South Mississippi for the Pine Hill Festival, a staple of the community’s support of local businesses in Stone County. Event Director Sandra Kirkie said, “Pine Hill is exactly the brick street we have right here. It has local businesses and what happened is some of the local businesses, 40 years plus, they wanted to go ahead and have locals come on and sell their stuff. So, they started it then and then it’s just grown. Now, we have probably about two to three miles worth of vendors.”

The festival is hosted by Stone County Economic Development and is one of South Mississippi’s longest-running festivals, offering entertainment of all kinds from music, kid rides, a car show, and the mutt strut. “Everybody comes together, especially for the festival, and they all socialize and get back together.”

Attendee Riley Lewis said, “The community is really diverse and our club has gotten to be diverse too. It’s really nice to see a lot of people coming together to show a common interest.”

At the end of the day, the festival is to promote local business, but everyone says nothing beats the creativity and hospitality of South Mississippi. Local artist Kelly Spacht said, “Seeing all the different things our community has to offer. We have plenty of educational booths, booths that sell foods, sell gifts, sell services, etc.”

Seth Bond with Deep South Cutlery said, “Get to meet new people. Expand your horizons, show them where you are. The event is so clean. The food is exceptional. Like I said, it’s just good time to bring your kids here. Let your dogs run around. It’s just good times.”