Jackson, City with Soul, Is a Great Place to Catch the Blues…and Chase Them Away!

The new Jackson Convention Complex is now open offering more than 130,000 square feet of meeting space enclosed in a beautiful crystalline folding-glass façade. The facility, built to green standards, is a showplace for the “City with Soul” complete with state-of-the-art conferencing technology. The Jackson Convention Complex is anchored on one side by the Mississippi Arts District, which includes Thalia Mara Hall, the Russell C. Davis Planetarium, the International Museum of Muslim Cultures, and the Mississippi Museum of Art, which opened in its brand new facility in June 2007. With its sculptured exterior grounds, wireless Internet service and vibrant, unique interior spaces, the museum is one of Jackson’s newest and most original off-site meetings venues.

Anchoring the other side of the Jackson Convention Complex is the developing Farish Street Entertainment District, a historic area that once served as the thriving economic and cultural center of African-American life in central Mississippi. Today, Farish Street, with its bricked streets and sidewalks and period lighting, is home to the Alamo Theater, Birdland Jazz Café, Café 303, and two landmark eateries—Peaches Café and the Big Apple Inn. Two historic Mississippi Blues Trail markers now grace Farish Street, and the first phase of the Farish Street Entertainment District will be open winter 2009 to include BB King's, King Biscuit, Doe's Eat Place, Red Rooster, Wet Willie's, Improv Comedy Club, Subway Lounge and Chucky B's.

Supporting the convention center district are some 2,000 of the city’s 5,500-plus hotel rooms, with more in the works. The King Edward Hotel, one of the South’s most luxurious hotels in its heyday, is under redevelopment and slated for a winter 2009 opening. The building will include a 186-room Hilton Garden Inn hotel, meeting rooms, a restaurant, a bar, and ground-floor retail, including a gift shop and a coffee shop. The hotel is in walking distance of the convention complex and will be available for booking in fall 2009.

The former Edison Walthall Hotel, now the Robert’s Walthall Hotel is also being revitalized to keep up with the momentum of downtown Jackson’s renaissance. The hotel is undergoing an extensive $12 million renovation including hotel rooms and meeting space.

Jackson’s premiere meeting venues are supported by nearly 50 hotel properties and more than 300 fine restaurants (many with convention and banquet rooms) that offer cuisine ranging from authentic Southern cooking to international fare. Known as the “City with Soul,” Jackson’s climate and its location at the crossroads of Interstates 55 and 20, running north-south and east-west, respectively, make it easy to take full advantage of the city’s multitude of cultural and arts activities, recreational offerings and other events. Jackson has museums devoted to art, culture, sports and natural science, as well as professional opera, theater, symphony and ballet companies. And with a variety of year round events, there’s always something fun and festive going on. Jackson, City with Soul, is a great place to catch the blues…and chase them away! Hit www.visitjackson.com or call 1-(800) 354-7695 for more information. 

Contact
Shun Hatten, Vice President of Sales
(601) 960-1891 or (800) 354-7695
shatten@visitjackson.com  
www.visitjackson.com

Jackson Mississippi Convention & Visitor Bureau