By Alyssa Schnugg

alyssa.schnugg@oxfordeagle.com

The 23rd annual Double Decker Arts Festival will kick off tonight under clear skies with a special Thacker Mountain Radio Hour on the Ole Miss Student Activities Association stage on the north side of the Square.

Singer Liz Brasher will take the stage at 6 p.m., followed by the Thacker Mountain Radio hour at 7 p.m. and The Delta Saints rounding out the evening at 8 p.m.

Bring a lawn chair and a sweater. The National Weather Service forecasts tonight’s low to be 50 degrees.

Taking its name from the town’s authentic double-decker bus imported from England in 1994, this year’s 23rd annual Double Decker Arts Festival will feature the same great food, music and art that has made the event one of the most popular in north Mississippi with crowds that topped 50,000 in past years. However, with the Ole Miss Rebels baseball team playing a home series against LSU this weekend, crowds are expected to be bigger than ever.

The festival is sponsored by the University of Mississippi Museum, who was gifted the sponsorship by Ole Miss Athletics.

On Saturday, the festival will start at 10 a.m. with more than 170 art vendors selling drawings, glass, jewelry, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking and sculptures.

This year’s food court will feature a sampling of culinary treats from local restaurateurs who will offer special menu items that are unique to the Double Decker Arts Festival.

To start off the main event Saturday morning, Sharde Thomas will perform at 10:15 a.m. Other Saturday daytime acts will include the Como Mamas, Don Bryant, Squirrel Nut Zippers and Tank and the Bangas.

Evening acts will include Whitey Morgan, followed by Houndmouth before the headliner indie rock band Cold War Kids take the stage at 8:30 p.m.

All music will be performed on the stage located on North Lamar Boulevard off the downtown Square.

The Children’s Fair will be located in and around the Lafayette County Chancery Building parking lot.

Before the festival begins on the Square, with the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce Spring Run 5k walk and 10k run and 1-mile Kid’s Run.

However, be careful of where you park this weekend as the Square will be closed to all traffic tonight and all day Saturday.

North Lamar Boulevard from Jefferson Avenue to the Square is now closed to pedestrian traffic only.

On Saturday, all streets around the Square will be closed to traffic beginning at 4 a.m., including the city-owned parking lots that will be used for vendors. Any cars left on the Square, North and South Lamar boulevards, Van Buren Avenue, East Jackson Avenue or in any city parking lots after 4 a.m. Saturday will be towed, according to OPD.

After 10 a.m. Saturday, the city parking lot behind Oxford Square North will be opened.

Shuttles will be provided for the festival and will be available from the Oxford High School parking lot from 10 a.m. To 10 p.m. for $5 a person.

For more information on the festival, visit the festival’s website at www.doubledeckerfestival.com.