With sporting events filling up the calendar and the absence of the Double Decker Arts Festival for a second straight spring, Visit Oxford decided to create something new.

Pop Up Oxford Spring Edition begins on Thursday and will host small events on the weekends through May 16. The events will highlight music and arts in the community.

“We are excited to host Pop Up Oxford Spring Edition and look forward to welcoming back some of our visitors that we’ve been missing,” said Visit Oxford executive director Kinney Ferris. “By spreading out these events over four weeks, we want everyone to have the opportunity to enjoy all that Oxford offers in a safe way.”

The 2021 edition of the Double Decker Arts Festival was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions on outdoor gatherings at the time the event was canceled in February.

On Friday, art vendors will “pop up” around the Oxford downtown Square from noon to 5 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday as well as May 1 and 8. Visit Oxford took the opportunity to bring a little slice of the Double Decker Arts Festival, just on a smaller scale.

“Because we were unable to host Double Decker in 2021, we wanted to give art vendors an opportunity to sell their wares, as well as an opportunity for the community and visitors to get outside and experience a small taste of the annual arts festival,” said Double Decker Arts Festival coordinator Lee Ann Stubbs.

Along with art vendors sprinkled throughout the the Square, live music is also returning this spring.

Dent May will perform a concert balcony at The End of All Music on Friday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Live musicians will perform in the “Blue Delta Blues Alley” Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Tunes Around Town is returning and will be set up in four different locations around town on Saturday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Tunes Around Town will continue on May 1 and 8 as part of the University of Mississippi’s Commencement weekends, as well as on May 15.

Two new art installations will be celebrated as part of the Pop Up Oxford spring events. The “Greetings from Oxford” mural which was recently completed, will have a local photographer on hand to take people’s photos in front of it. The mural is located on a wall in the parking lot behind Oxford’s City Hall.

A new sculpture titled “Victory Dance” will be installed at the roundabout at the intersection of South Lamar Boulevard and Belk Boulevard. The sculpture was designed and made by local sculptor Earl Dismuke.

The Red & Blue Run to the Square will take place on Saturday with 4-miler and 10K races in lieu of the regularly scheduled Double Decker Spring Run. Both races will start at the Malco Commons Theater located off Sisk Avenue to help with social distancing.

“We are so excited to be offering a fun, active way for our community to get back together after such a long lull in community events due to COVID,” said Chamber of Commerce senior vice president Pam Swain. “We hope our locals and visitors alike take this opportunity to get out and about on such a fun Oxford weekend.”

Double Decker bus tours have returned and will be available during Friday afternoons of Ole Miss home Souteastern Conference baseball games and the Friday afternoons of both Commencement weekends.

The Destination Oxford Cruise & Car show will take place on the north side of the Square on May 15. The Velvet Ditch Gran Fondo bike ride will also be held on May 15 and feature a 20, 45 and 70-mile route for a variety of rider levels. The Old Armory Pavilion will host a spring showcase market presented by the Worth of Worth and Excellence on May 15.

For more information on all the events, visit visitoxfordms.com.