Best Craft Fairs in Mississippi 2026: Top Shows for Vendors & Shoppers

Mississippi has a craft fair scene that reflects the state itself: deeply rooted in tradition, spread across small towns and coastal communities, and full of character you won't find anywhere else. The Gulf Coast draws artists and makers with its juried fine arts festivals. The Delta celebrates its blues heritage with events that mix music, food, and handmade goods. And from Tupelo to Hattiesburg, community festivals with vendor opportunities pop up year-round. Booth fees here are among the lowest in the South, making Mississippi a smart market for vendors looking to grow without overextending.

We pulled together the top craft fairs happening across Mississippi in 2026, drawing from our database of 31 Mississippi craft fairs on TheCraftMap. Here are the shows worth putting on your calendar.

The Gulf Coast: Arts Festivals and Coastal Markets

Mississippi's Gulf Coast is where you'll find the state's most established arts and craft events. Ocean Springs, Biloxi, Bay Saint Louis, and Pass Christian all have active maker communities, and the tourist traffic from casinos, beaches, and seafood restaurants brings in shoppers from across the region. The mild winters mean outdoor events can run nearly year-round.

Ocean Springs is often called the "City of Discovery" and has one of the strongest art communities on the entire Gulf Coast. The Spring Arts Festival has been running for over 30 years, which means it has a built-in audience that returns every March. The focus on both artists and growers creates a nice mix where pottery sits next to potted herbs and jewelry vendors share the sidewalk with plant sellers. The gallery-heavy downtown means shoppers are already primed for handmade goods. If you sell anything in the fine arts or artisan category, this should be on your list.

Bay Saint Louis has reinvented itself as an arts destination since Hurricane Katrina, and Arts Alive! is the marquee event. What makes this one different is the multi-disciplinary approach: visual art, culinary art, music, and theater all happening at the same time across the historic Depot Arts District. That means foot traffic from people who came for the food demos or live music will walk past your booth. The festival's emphasis on artists demonstrating their process is perfect if you make anything where watching the creation adds value, like pottery, woodturning, or glasswork.

A juried fine arts festival overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. The setting alone sets this apart. Pass Christian (locals call it "The Pass") is a small coastal town with a lot of charm, and War Memorial Park provides a gorgeous backdrop for an outdoor show. The jury process keeps vendor quality high, which attracts serious buyers. If your work falls into fine arts, photography, pottery, fiber arts, or woodworking, this is a show where the audience appreciates craftsmanship.

Biloxi's St. Patrick's Day parade brings thousands of people downtown, and the Clover & Kilts Fest sets up right on the Town Green where the parade passes on both sides. That kind of guaranteed foot traffic is hard to beat. It's a one-day show, so your time commitment is minimal, and the festive atmosphere puts people in a spending mood. Live music, Irish dancers, and contests keep the crowd around longer, which means more time browsing vendor booths.

The Delta: Blues Heritage and Community Festivals

The Mississippi Delta is where the blues were born, and the cultural events here carry that same spirit of authenticity. Clarksdale, the epicenter of Delta blues, hosts one of the most unique festivals in the state. These events draw visitors from well beyond Mississippi, bringing in music tourists and culture seekers who are happy to support local makers.

The Juke Joint Festival is one of the most interesting events on this list. It describes itself as "half small-town fair, half blues festival," and that duality is exactly what makes it work for vendors. You get the music tourists who came for the blues and the local families who came for the fair, all mixing together on the streets of Clarksdale. Local and regional vendors get first priority, so if you're based in Mississippi, you have an edge. The Delta culture angle means shoppers are specifically looking for things with character and story behind them, not mass-produced goods.

Belzoni calls itself the Catfish Capital of the World, and this festival is the town's biggest event of the year. It's a family affair with food, entertainment, and craft vendors. The charm of a festival like this is that the whole town shows up. You're not competing with a dozen other things happening across a metro area. For one day, everyone in Belzoni and the surrounding counties is at the festival, and they're in a good mood because the catfish is excellent.

Vendor Tips: Selling at Mississippi Craft Fairs

Working the Mississippi craft fair circuit has some specific dynamics worth knowing before you load up the truck:

• Heat management is critical. Mississippi summers are brutal. Most of the big events cluster in March through May and then again in October and November for good reason. If you sell candles, wax melts, or chocolate, keep them shaded and consider insulated storage. Summer events exist but require serious heat planning.
• Sales tax is 7%. Mississippi has one of the higher state sales tax rates in the country at 7%. Some municipalities add local taxes. Check with event organizers about whether they handle temporary vendor permits or if you need to register separately with the Mississippi Department of Revenue.
• The Gulf Coast and the Delta are different markets. Coastal events skew toward fine arts, tourism-driven shopping, and higher price points. Delta and small-town events lean toward community, tradition, and affordability. Know your audience and price accordingly.
• Booth fees are very reasonable. Many Mississippi events charge under $100, with some community festivals even lower. That low cost of entry makes it feasible to test multiple markets in a season without a huge financial risk.
• Bring cash change. Some smaller Mississippi events draw crowds that prefer to pay in cash. While card readers are increasingly common, having a good float of small bills and coins will keep your line moving. If you make soap and want to track your costs and margins across shows, tools like Soaply can help you calculate recipes and manage inventory.

North Mississippi: Tupelo, Corinth, and Beyond

North Mississippi has a solid circuit of recurring markets and community festivals. Tupelo, birthplace of Elvis Presley, anchors the region with regular flea market events. Corinth and the surrounding towns add seasonal festivals that draw from both Mississippi and the Memphis metro area just to the north.

The Tupelo Flea Market runs every second weekend of the month, all year long. That consistency is its biggest strength. Regular vendors build a following, and repeat customers know exactly when to show up. The three-day format (Friday evening through Sunday afternoon) gives you multiple shots at different crowds: the Friday night browsers, the Saturday shoppers, and the Sunday deal-seekers. Tupelo draws from a wide area of north Mississippi and into Alabama, so the customer base is bigger than you might expect.

The handmade-and-homegrown-only rule makes this market a standout. No resellers, no imported goods. That policy attracts shoppers who are specifically looking for authentic local products, and it means your handcrafted booth won't be competing with someone selling mass-produced imports at half your price. The Green Market benefits from being a fundraiser for the Crossroads Museum, which gives it community support and local press coverage. Free admission for shoppers keeps the barrier low.

When the Southeast Tourism Society names your festival one of the Top 29 events in the region, that's a stamp of credibility worth paying attention to. The Amory Railroad Festival has been going since 1979, and it runs Thursday through Sunday, giving you a full four days of selling. The crowd is a mix of families, tourists, and locals, and the craft booths line the city streets alongside food vendors from local churches. That community-driven feel is hard to replicate at a more commercial event.

Central and South Mississippi

Jackson, Hattiesburg, and the smaller towns in between offer a variety of events ranging from massive music-and-arts festivals to intimate community gatherings. Hattiesburg in particular has built a strong downtown arts scene that supports regular vendor events.

Over 250 vendors and four stages of live music in one day. Hubfest is the biggest single-day event in this guide, and the free admission means there's no barrier to entry for shoppers. Historic Downtown Hattiesburg provides a walkable setting where people naturally browse from booth to booth. The combination of arts, crafts, and food vendors creates an atmosphere where people linger for hours rather than doing a quick pass-through. If you can handle the volume, this is a high-traffic show. If you're a candle maker tracking costs across shows like this, WickSuite can help you figure out which events give you the best return.

The Natchez Pow Wow is a culturally distinct event that draws visitors interested in Native American art, jewelry, and traditional crafts. At $170 for a two-day show with both indoor and outdoor options, the cost is reasonable. Natchez itself is a tourism destination thanks to its antebellum architecture and Mississippi River location, so you get walk-in traffic from tourists who stumble upon the event. If your products connect to handmade traditions, natural materials, or cultural storytelling, this audience will appreciate them.

Eight thousand people at a community festival in a town of 5,000. That turnout ratio tells you Waynesboro pulls from the whole surrounding region. The Whistle Stop Festival packs arts and crafts, a car show, carnival, and food into a single day, creating the kind of event where families spend hours wandering. Over 120 booths means there's variety, but it's not so massive that any individual vendor gets lost in the crowd. These mid-sized community festivals are often the sweet spot for consistent sales.

Planning Your Mississippi Craft Fair Season

Mississippi's craft fair calendar has a clear rhythm. Winter is quiet, with a few indoor shows and flea markets keeping things alive from December through February. Spring is prime season: March through May is when the Gulf Coast art festivals, Delta heritage events, and community festivals all converge. June through August slows down significantly because of the heat. Then fall brings a second wave from September through November with harvest festivals, holiday markets, and Christmas bazaars.

For vendors building a Mississippi circuit, consider anchoring around two or three regions. The Gulf Coast cluster (Ocean Springs, Bay Saint Louis, Pass Christian, Biloxi) can fill multiple weekends in March and April alone. Pair that with Hubfest in Hattiesburg and the Amory Railroad Festival up north, and you've got a solid spring run. Fill the gaps with the Tupelo Flea Market's monthly schedule for consistent income between the big events.

One thing worth noting: Mississippi's craft fair scene rewards vendors who build relationships. Many of these events are organized by chambers of commerce, churches, and community groups. Getting to know the organizers and returning year after year gets you better booth placement, early notice of new events, and word-of-mouth referrals that social media can't replace.

Browse all 31 Mississippi craft fairs on TheCraftMap to find shows that fit your schedule and budget. New events are added regularly as we discover and verify listings across the state.

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