Great Delta Bear Affair 2024 will not take place, at least the festival portion will not. Committee members plan to host several outreach events but not the festival itself, due to the condition of Rolling Fork’s downtown area.
The downtown suffered significant damage during the March 23 tornado and while committee members worked extremely hard to make the 2023 festival happen, they say they need support from the city as further deterioration and no positive movement has been made by the city since that time.
Committee chairman, Meg Cooper, said “we are an aging committee, and we should not have to do everything we did for the 2023 festival, but we knew the community needed that festival so we went above and beyond cleaning properties and marking hazards on public properties with no city assistance or support.”
However, the committee will be hosting a Bear themed Story Walk for children, the Bear Bash and Silent Auction , and Youth Education Day, as well as once again partnering with Sharkey Issaquena Academy’s Beta Club to provide Teddy Bears for children at Children’s of Mississippi Hospital in Jackson.
Cooper stated that, “the committee hopes everyone that can will participate in these events and that by holding them, we keep the Great Delta Bear Affair top of mind for those that enjoy it. We would like to be back in downtown Rolling Fork in 2025.”
