Saturday, cooking teams served fried catfish, hushpuppies and sweet tea at the annual Mississippi picnic in New York's Central Park.
The Mississippi picnic in Central Park started in 1979. It attracted about 2,000 people on a rainy day in 2011.
Malcolm White, head of the Mississippi Arts Commission, said Thursday that tourists look for things that make places unique or authentic. He says Mississippi's musical and culinary traditions are selling points.
"The creative economy is a very powerful export we have," White said. "We get to dazzle others with our amazing culture."
Amazing and, well, different.
At the 2011 Mississippi picnic in New York, a young woman wearing a tiara and a "Miss Catfish" sash greeted visitors. She was an actual pageant winner, from the World Catfish Festival in Belzoni, Miss.
"Our Mississippi Juke Joint Stage will be filled once again with amazing artists that span from across our beautiful state offering the crowd a taste of where the blues all started," said Alex Thomas, program manager for the Mississippi Development Authority's music trails program.
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