Soule’ Live Steam Fest gets underway Friday 

Published 10:31 am Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Live steam enthusiasts from across the country will gather in Meridian this weekend for the 19th Annual Soule’ Life Steam Festival.

Set for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4 & 5, the festival is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum’s historic Soule Steam Feed Works, 1808 Fourth St., in downtown Meridian.

“It’s a family-friendly event and we encourage everyone to come support our industrial heritage,” the Museum’s Executive Director Greg Hatcher said.

The museum features an impressive collection of portable and stationary steam engines which will operate using “live steam.” Live steam uses steam pressure to operate the engines instead of compressed air or mechanical motors to simulate their operation. During the two-day festival, detailed model steam engines will be steaming up.

There also will be a wide variety of informative and entertaining industrial/craftsman demonstrations, including: molten iron pouring and the foundry process by Clark Easterling of Windy Hill Foundry in Morton; looming by Meridian resident Nancy Landrum; a demonstration on how belt-driven equipment operates by Industrial Technology students at Meridian Community College; and the Soule’ Forge will present blacksmithing demonstrations.

Carousel organ players from various locations (including Dallas, Wichita Falls, Nashville and the Meridian area) will be “playing the happiest music on earth,” Hatcher said. Also, the Vintage Wheels Car Club’s Soule’ Antique Car Show will be showcased (weather permitting).

According to Hatcher, the annual live steam festival evolved from an open house in 2003 following the purchase of Soule’ Steam Feed Works.

“It was about a year the building was purchased from the Soule’ Family. We had gotten the building cleaned up to a point where people could come in and see it,” he said.

The open house attracted 400 attendees from “just word of mouth,” Hatcher said.

Museum officials decided to organize an annual fall event and call it the Soule’ Live Steam Festival. Attendance continued to grow over the years, however with the start of SEC football there was a drastic drop in numbers. Nonetheless, the festival continued as a fall event.

“There were some who thought we should move the live steam festival to another date, maybe during spring,” Hatcher said. “But the core group really wants it to be held in the fall because it’s the perfect time to do this type of event. The steam looks so good when it’s cool, and you can smell it and you get the full experience of having live steam here on site.”

Soule’ Steam Feed Works is among only a few places worldwide to offer an authentic life steam experience.

“We’re able to do that because we have model boilers that are state inspected, and everything is done by the book,” Hatcher said.

Admission to the 19th Annual Soule’ Live Steam Festival is $10, adults; free for students and children. On Saturday, admission for students and children is $5.

Saturday’s event is held in conjunction with RailFest 2022, which is scheduled from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., at the Railroad Museum, located next to Singing Brakeman Park in downtown Meridian.