Quitman County files trademark for Mules & Blues Fest

Quitman County Economic Tourism Development, Inc. filed a federal trademark application on June 26 for QUITMAN COUNTY MULES & BLUES FEST, a move that could put the county organization in control of how the festival name is used on signs, merchandise and partner materials. The application, serial number 99908082, is listed as a new filing in the Education and Entertainment Services class, with Shanta Martin of the Law Office of Shanta L. Sykes in Marks named as the legal correspondent.

The filing lands on an event that county records say began in 2015 and was built around the Mule Train and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign. Quitman County links the festival to both the Mississippi Blues Trail and the Mississippi Freedom Trail, and the festival site says the annual event is held in early October in Marks. The county describes the celebration as a showcase for historical treasures, artistic talents, music, art, literature and southern-style culinary skills.

The trademark push carries added weight because the festival sits on top of one of Quitman County’s most important civil rights stories. County materials say 115 residents left Marks on May 13, 1968, and later joined the protest on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on June 19, 1968. The county also says Marks was selected in 2011 as one of 30 Mississippi Freedom Trail marker sites and that the marker was erected on Oct. 2, 2015. Those dates tie the festival brand directly to a documented local legacy rather than a loose marketing slogan.

For the county, the legal filing also has clear business implications. A registered mark can make it easier to standardize how the event is promoted, which matters for sponsorships, vendor sales, merchandise and long-term fundraising. Quitman County’s tourism office says Quitman Tourism Economic Development is a nonprofit division of county government organized to create economic growth, promote tourism and improve public education opportunities, and the festival site thanks the Quitman County Board of Supervisors, the City of Marks and other municipalities for helping bring the event to the region.

A county-posted resume for Velma J. Wilson says she founded and organized the festival in 2015 and that, in its first five years, it grew to more than 3,000 attendees and generated more than $180,000 in revenue, including grants from the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Arts Commission, along with sponsorships, vendor sales and merchandise sales. The festival also has a performance history that includes Denise LaSalle, James “Super Chikan” Johnson, Stephen Pride and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, and a county event page shows the 2023 festival was held Oct. 7 at Marks Community House, 315 Locust St.