Grady Champion

COLUMBUS – Historic Catfish Alley will be alive with activity during the ninth annual “Catfish in the Alley”® on April 1, as part of the 77th annual Columbus Spring Pilgrimage. 

This year’s lineup features all the food and fun families have come to expect from this outstanding, highly-touted event. Activities kick off at 10 a.m. and continue until 3 p.m. in downtown Columbus.

Visitors to the alley will enjoy a uniquely Southern sampling from food vendors – treats ranging from fried catfish to barbecue to jambalaya – while they hear from some of the best blues musicians around. Slated performers include local favorites and legends alike: Big Joe Shelton, Terry “Harmonica” Bean and the Bean Band, Grady Champion, and Keith Johnson and the Big Muddy Band.

This year more than 15 talented artisans will display their wares in the alley, as well.  

The music, food and fun takes place throughout Catfish Alley in downtown Columbus in the block of Fourth Street South between Main and College streets. Catfish in the Alley and the area that shares the name recalls a time in the early 20th Century when African-American fisherman hauled their Tombigbee River catches several blocks from the river to fry and sell.  That aroma of cooking catfish permeating the downtown area gave the location, also a hub for thriving African-American business and the site of community gatherings, its name.

For more information about Catfish in the Alley and all other Columbus Spring Pilgrimage events, contact Visit Columbus, 117 Third Street South, by calling 800-920-3533 or 662-329- 1191, or visit their website at www.VisitColumbusMS.org to learn more.