Loblolly Festival

From Loblolly Festival Website:

The Loblolly Festival is held annually on the first Saturday in October and celebrates Laurels heritage as a sawmill town. Vendors from several states, artists, crafters and craftsmen set up shop in the streets of downtown Laurel for this one day event. Live music of various genres can be heard throughout the day. Food ranges from your first funnel cake of the fall to corn dogs, chicken on a stick and every variety of festival food imaginable. Our lovable lumberjack, Mr. Loblolly, visits with the crowd and will stop for a photo op, too!

Demonstrations vary from year to year, but a crowd favorite for sure is Dayton Scoggins, the chainsaw artist. Dayton will be on hand for the 2014 festival, selling his creations as well as demonstrating the art of chainsaw sculpture. A contest for high school artists is sponsored by Masonite Corporation. Students paint a door skin supplied by Masonite to depict a theme chosen by the Loblolly committee. The art is judged by a blind panel of visual art experts. The art will be on display at the festival. The winning art will be featured on a downtown banner.