Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival — Ocean Springs

Held every November, the Peter Anderson Festival draws 150,000 visitors to downtown Ocean Springs for two days of juried fine arts, live music, food vendors, and a street fair that fills every block of the walkable downtown. Named for the Ocean Springs potter and son of Walter Anderson, the festival is the single largest annual event on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the clearest expression of Ocean Springs' identity as an art colony. The festival grounds overlap with the downtown gallery district, the WAMA museum, and the live oak canopy that defines the town. It's the weekend when Ocean Springs shows the rest of the coast what it chose to become.