FTK Fest: Toy Drive & Fundraiser at the BB Club on November 23

VICKSBURG, Miss. – A group of local musicians are putting their (drum)heads together for the upcoming FTK Fest (For the Kids Fest) with a toy-drive and fundraiser at the BB Club on November 23 from 12 p.m. – 10 p.m.

FTK Fest will be an all day affair with 11 bands playing in the upstairs ballroom and nearly twenty vendors on the first floor, with all proceeds going towards Haven House and Beautiful Deliverance.

Jena Moulder, bass player for the local doom/sludge band Chief City came up with the idea as a way to give back to the community.

“Personally, I wanted to pick out a shelter, because of my own humbling moments in life. There’s a real need as a mother that you want to have the best Christmas you can for your kids,” said Moulder. “We thought this would be a great opportunity for everybody in the community, from all sorts of different backgrounds to get together, and its for a good cause to help the kids.”

Moulder also volunteers at Rainbow Farms, and has helped with the auction with Rainbow Farms and Jacob’s Ladder.

“I started volunteering at Rainbow Farms since I wanted to get involved with special needs people and have been there a year now. I helped with the auction for them and Jacob’s Ladder and saw how much good the community could do together at an event,” said Moulder.

The FTK Fest is being put together on a completely volunteer basis, with several members of the bands offering assistance; coordinating the bands, providing sound and lights, vendor coordination, and other logistical and technical help and advice.

The bands playing the event will run the gamut from blues and rock covers to metal and sludge, with five of Vicksburg’s underground bands and two bands from Jackson rounding out the evening. Three of the Vicksburg bands were recently featured in a Weedian Compilation.

“You’ve got eleven bands, some of us know each other, some of us have never met, but everybody’s coming together for the same cause,” said Jordan Wilson, lead vocalist and guitarist for Chief City. “We hope you stay for the music, but we hope you come out to support the kids of Vicksburg.”

Doors will open for the event at 12 p.m. on Saturday, November 23. Tickets for the event are $10 dollars each and the pass will allow people to come and go as they please. Toy donations will be accepted, while new toys are encouraged, slightly used toys are also welcome. All toys received, as well as proceeds from ticket sales, will be evenly distributed between Haven House and Beautiful Deliverance.

“We wanted to thank Mr. Pat and his crew at CS’s and Derrick [Howard and all of the staff from the BB Club]. They really have opened up this opportunity for us, because a lot of people would not. A lot of people don’t really give us a chance, and not only have they given us a chance but they have been super involved and have been absolutely amazing to all of us,” said Moulder.