Hello All!

I am very excited to report that the pieces are falling into place with my festival research! I am so lucky to go to a school where the professors own local businesses and have hands in a lot of town activities! Jimmy Holder, the owner of Blackbird (a local coffee shop) agreed to sit down with me very soon and discuss the history of Deep Roots. Deep Roots is in its twelfth year in Milledgeville. It has attracted music, art and food from all over the country to our small town! I have attended this festival all four years that I have gone to school here and plan to continue well after I graduate! The Department of Theatre and Dance plan flash mobs and the school plans FallFest, a day where accepted students for the next term come to campus to see what awaits them, around the events of Deep Roots–it is truly an experience. My most pressing questions for Jimmy include “Why did Deep Roots originate?”, “Has it at all made an impact on the culture of Milledgeville?”, “Is there a reason why it takes place so close to the university?”, :”Has Deep Roots held true to its original vision?”, “Would anything happen if Deep Roots didn’t happen anymore?” and “Have you observed any trend among the participants or attendees of Deep Roots over the past twelve years?”. This is just a preliminary list, but my main interest is finding out how Milledgeville natives feel about the festival because our university has a reputation of being unnecessarily exclusive and considering its proximity to campus, I think that could be an interesting path to take. Jimmy has promised to connect me to some of those individuals in the community and I have a few of my own contacts! Needless to say, I am ready to get rolling!