A steering committee working to create a four-day arts festival in Moore County next spring is one step closer to selecting a name for the event.

The festival, scheduled to take place March 25-28, 2010, is inspired by the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C., and other such annual gatherings. It will feature a combination of indoor and outdoor elements, including musical performances and opportunities for local artists to showcase their work.

It is intended to attract local residents and visitors from outside the area to "enjoy diverse activities and experiences that showcase the best of Moore County past and present."

The list of names has been narrowed to three finalists: Pinefest, Longleaf Festival, and Palustris Festival.

"Palustris" comes from the term Pinus palustris -- the Latin taxonomic name for the longleaf pine indigenous to the Sandhills.

The group appeared split on the name, with some preferring the simpler "Pinefest," while others liked Palustris.

Of those three names, Caleb Miles, president and CEO of the Convention and Visitor's Bureau, said he liked Pinefest the best.

"That just seemed to combine pine trees and the festival," he said, "and it was clean and simple."

Greg Zywocinski also made a pitch for Pinefest but said he didn't consider the name crucial.

"I don't think that anyone goes to the Spoleto Festival or the Piccolo Spoleto Festival because of those words," he said, "so I don't think it's really all that important. But I am going to second whoever came up with Pinefest, one word."

Pilot Editor Steve Bouser disagreed.

"Whatever ends up being picked, the name is very important," he said.

"I just think Palustris is very elegant and classy," said Denise Baker, an art professor at Sandhills Community College, "and when you think of cultural people, that's your audience. The Latin word to me is much more elevated and classy."

Some others said that it was important to reach out to a lot of different people and that Palustris may not do that.

"If we're only relying on people with Ph.D.s and fine arts," Zywocinski said, "then our festival will be out of business. We have to have a much broader appeal."

In response to concern that people wouldn't know what "Palustris" meant, Bouser said that words like Spoleto and Bele Chere (the name of a popular Asheville festival) were also unfamiliar at the beginning.

The committee agreed that adding a tagline or subtitle, along the lines of "celebrating arts in the Sandhills," to the logo would be important.

Logos will be created incorporating the three names for the committee to review before a decision is made on the name.

The committee will be divided into subcommittees to handle the various responsibilities. So far, the group has come up with a program committee, which will handle the applications to be featured in the festival, a marketing committee, business committee and finance committee.

The hope is to have performers and artists booked and venues secured by August. Once those are nailed down, the committee can focus on ticket sales and a multimedia marketing campaign, expected to begin 60 to 90 days out, according to Miles.

A guidebook delineating all of the activities of the festival will be created and distributed as part of that campaign.

"That's the showpiece when you get here," said Chris Dunn, executive director of the Arts Council of Moore County. "That's what you get."

Tickets are expected to be sold through the festival's Web site and at various locations in the area.

The committee's next meeting will be Tuesday, April 28, at 4 p.m.

Contact John Krahnert III at 693-2473 or by e-mail at jkrahnert@thepilot.com.