NATCHEZ — The extended Memorial Day weekend offers opportunities to give thanks to those who have served the country and to attend cultural and arts events.

Friends and family will also gather to congratulate the graduates of three local schools.

The weather Friday through Monday is predicted to be sunny with some clouds, with highs in the mid 80s and lows in the low 60s.

Graduations

Adams County Christian School, Cathedral School and Trinity Episcopal Day School will all have commencement exercises this weekend.

Cathedral’s graduation will be at 7 p.m. Friday at St. Mary Basilica, while ACCS’s exercises will be at 7:30 p.m. that night at First Baptist Church in Natchez.

Trinity’s graduation ceremony will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Trinity Episcopal Church.

Celebration of Patriotism

The group Home With Heroes will host the “Celebration of Patriotism” at First Baptist Church in Natchez starting at 2 p.m.

The celebration will include the screening of two films, the first of which is “A Call to Duty,” which tells the stories of two World War II veterans, Army Nurse Josephine Kapke and Navy Seabee Harold Gardner, who were wartime volunteers.

The second film will be the television pilot for Home With Heroes, featuring veterans Benton Thornton, Ben Lewis and Nathan Latimer. The Home With Heroes Foundation — which has the goal of getting the show picked up by a television network — produced the pilot.

The program will also feature a lecture from Nicole Starr, the founder of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Retreat program, about how PTSD affects veterans’ lives.

ArtsNatchez jewelry-making class

ArtsNatchez will offer a jewelry-making class for those ages 13 and older from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday. Materials and tools will be provided.

“I am going to be teaching participants how to design and make bracelets, necklaces and earrings using a variety of glass, semi-precious and freshwater pearl beads,” instructor Robin Person said. “If you wear reading classes you really need to bring them because there are a lot of tiny little beads.”

Advance registration is required, and the class costs $25. Call 662-515-0490 for more information.

Natchez Festival of Music

Events with the Natchez Festival of Music this weekend include:

•The Magical World of Tango, featuring Alejandro Drago and the Tango Rendezvous Ensemble at the Prentiss Club. The event is 7 p.m. Friday and admission is $30.

• “Rigoletto,” Giuseppi Verdi’s famed opera about a court jester whose mocking of courtiers at a ball has unintended dark consequences.

The opera will be performed in Italian.

The performance will be 7 p.m. Saturday at Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center. Admission is $30.

•The Festival of Music’s final gala, which will be 10 p.m. to midnight at Linden following “Rigoletto.”

The gala will have food, a cash bar and participants will have the opportunity to meet the festival’s artists.

Admission is $20.

Memorial Day Parade

The annual Miss-Lou Memorial Day parade will line up on Oak Street in Vidalia at 8 a.m. Monday.

The walking parade — which has roots in the 1860s and has crossed the Mississippi River bridge annually since it was built in the 1940s — will make a rest stop at the Natchez Visitor Reception Center before proceeding to the Natchez National Cemetery.

A brief Memorial Day ceremony will follow the parade at cemetery.