The Fayette Festival of the Arts returns to the downtown courthouse square and CMU campus on Saturday for its 13th season. The event has become a draw for art and music lovers from across the state.

This year’s event kicks off at 9 a.m. with the youth art show in the Howard County Courthouse and the adult art show at the Ashby-Hodge Gallery in Classic Hall on the campus of Central Methodist University. Also starting at 9 a.m. is the Peacemakers Quilt Show in Linn Memorial United Methodist Church and the car show on Davis Street along the north side of the square.

A day full of entertainment is a signature feature of the annual festival. The first music of the day will be hymns performed by the Fayette Ministerial Alliance at 9 a.m. At 10 a.m., the 11-piece Show-Me Brass band will perform, followed by the jazz ensemble, Just Friends, at 11 a.m.

An annual staple of the art festival is a performance by the Columbia Community Band. The baton drops at noon on the south side of the courthouse lawn.

A major attraction to this year’s festival is the celebration of Fayette’s 200th birthday. The bicentennial committee will open the recently unearthed time capsule at 1 p.m. Its contents will be available for pickup by the appropriate parties at that time. (A complete list of those who contributed to the 1973 time capsule was published in last week’s edition of the Fayette Advertiser.) A resolution from the state legislature recognizing Fayette’s 200th year will be presented at this time.

The bicentennial committee is accepting new contributions for the next time capsule that will be buried in October during the Central Methodist Homecoming celebration. Committee members have been on hand at several events throughout the summer and at the Urial Wright building on the northwest side of the square every Saturday. The cost to include items in the new capsule is $10.

At 1:30 p.m., awards  for the cake show will be presented, followed by the cake raffle. Those who wish to enter a cake into the contest can register and drop off the cake between 9 and 11 a.m. on the day of the festival. Car show trophies will be awarded at 2 p.m. 

Music will continue throughout the afternoon. At 2 p.m., Ramblin’ Jam will play classic rock, folk rock, and classic country tunes. Fayette’s own Gracie Doolin will sing a selection of show tunes from past musical performances starting at 3 p.m. 

The art shows officially close at 3:30 p.m., with the quilt show and festival wrapping up at 4 p.m.

A full list of events and performers appears in an advertisement on Page 3 of this newspaper.

For those graduates of Fayette High School, the annual all-class reunion begins at 5 p.m. at the high school commons. This year’s event hosts the classes of 1968, 1974, and 1983 to celebrate their 55th, 49th, and 40th reunions, respectively, though all Fayette alumni are welcome to attend.