(Smithfield, NC)—Each year the Ava Gardner Museum celebrates Ava's life and career by hosting the Ava Gardner Festival. This annual event includes heritage tours, screenings of classic Ava Gardner films, and special exhibits.

This year's festival began during the Ava Gardner Festival Gala on Friday evening, October 9th, at which the new exhibit Ava and Hemingway was unveiled. The centerpiece of the exhibit is a pocket watch given by Ava to Hemingway for his 55th birthday in 1954. Also included in the new exhibit are costumes used in the film The Sun Also Rises, a dress and necklace worn to the premieres of The Snows of Kilimanjaro, movie posters and scripts, and books from Ava's personal collection. Brownie Futrell, president and publisher of the Washington Daily News in Washington, NC, loaned the Museum the Hemingway watch for the exhibit and was on hand Friday evening to share the story of how the watch was acquired and his family's connection to Ava.

"This is the first time the Hemingway watch has been on display and the Museum is thrilled to share this and so many other pieces of the collection in an effort to educate the public about the special friendship between Ava and Hemingway. The exhibit also utilizes for the first time a special display system that will allow the Museum to include more textual interpretation in future exhibits," stated Jessica Meadows Hammett, Executive Director of the Ava Gardner Museum.

The Festival continued Saturday, October 10th with the screening of the three films Ava Gardner starred in based on Hemingway works: The Killers, The Sun Also Rises, and The Snows of Kilimanjaro. Heritage tours also ran throughout the day; these tours show visitors points of interest in Ava's hometown, including Ava's birthplace, the Teacherage where she grew up, the Howell Theater where Ava first went to the movies, and ended with a visit to her gravesite at Sunset Memorial Park. Doris Rollins Cannon, Ava's biographer, was one of the Heritage Tour guides and signed numerous copies of her book Grabtown Girl, much to the delight of Festival-goers.

Over the two days, the Ava Gardner Festival brought hundreds of visitors to Downtown Smithfield, many of which live outside of the surrounding community. Visitors came from around the country, including New York, Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, Alabama, Tennessee, Rhode Island, and South Carolina, to visit the Museum during the Festival.

The Ava Gardner Museum is located in downtown Smithfield, at 325 E. Market Street and more information may be found on the museum website, www.avagardner.org or by calling 919-934-5830. The museum is open Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm and Sunday 2pm-5pm with admission of $6.00 adults, $5.00 seniors and groups and $4.00 children.

Related Links

1. http://www.avagardner.org/