The City of Southaven is bringing back its annual Fallfest for the second consecutive year on Saturday, Oct. 14, for an afternoon of kids’ activities, local vendors, live music and a cooking competition at the Snowden House near BankPlus Amphitheater. 

Unlike the suburb’s signature annual Springfest, a multi-day festivity featuring carnival rides and other attractions, Fallfest is intended to be a smaller and more local celebration, said Liz Robinson, food and beverage manager in the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

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“Last year, Mayor (Darren) Musselwhite mentioned that he wanted more community events,” Robinson said of the story behind Fallfest. “(Springfest) takes a lot of planning, and that’s typically planned from City Hall. This is just something smaller that we want to do. We don’t want to expand outside of the Snowden House lawn.” 

Activities, including face painting, a petting zoo and a bounce house are free, Robinson said.

For food and drink, there’ll be a small beer garden and food trucks, including Pok Cha’s Egg Rolls, Mississippi Old Town Taco and Coffee Central. 

More than 40 local vendors will set up around the Snowden House, including Olive Branch resident Nik Hendrick’s Vintage Sounds business, which transforms vintage suitcases into Bluetooth-enabled stereos. 

Fallfest will be Hendrick’s first event this year after having to cancel a spot at this year’s Cooper-Young Festival. Founding Vintage Sounds in 2014, Hendrick runs most of his business through social media and by word of mouth.

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As for Saturday’s offerings, he’ll be selling nine suitcases-turned-stereos. “Nothing crazy,” clarified Hendrick, who’s built speakers out of record cases, guitar cases and vintage U.S. Army canisters. His products typically start in the $350-$400 range and go up. 

Although the festival coincides with Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival at BankPlus Amphitheater, and this year features a new steak cooking contest, with Fallfest’s vendors and kids’ activities, Robinson said, “Quaint is what we’re going for.”

Sanctioned by the Steak Cookoff Association (SCA), Saturday’s competition features at least 32 teams vying for top prizes in grilled ribeyes. By incorporating the steak cookoff, the city hopes to grow Fallfest and make it similar to Springfest, which features a barbecue competition, explained Wes Brown, director of Southaven’s Parks and Recreation Department. 

“Most of these guys are just dudes who like to cook steaks on the weekend,” said Brown.

Among them is Olive Branch resident Nick Sinquefield and his Natural Light-sponsored team, aptly named “Hold My Natty!” Joining him at the grill are high school buddies Hunter Brown, Lance Reviere and Lawrence Vaughn. 

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The team’s participated in a few barbecue competitions “here and there,” Sinquefield shared, but they got hooked on SCA events last year. For one, Sinquefield explained, SCA events are typically one day compared to multi-day barbecue competitions, and the ancillaries — or side contests — are always different.

“This weekend it’s gumbo, which we’re excited about,” Sinquefield said. “One of my teammates is from Louisiana, and he’s got his family’s recipe gumbo that he’s pretty proud of so we’re gonna turn that in.”

SCA event winners receive a “golden ticket” for the chance to compete in the association’s annual world championship in Fort Worth, Texas. 

“We compete (and) we try to win the stuff, but at the end of the day, it’s just fun,” Sinquefield said of looking forward to Saturday. “We’ll have a TV out there, we’ll have college football, we’ll be having a beer.

“At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”