NATCHEZ — Just before the infamous sandbar face-off of Jim Bowie and Maj. Norris Wright, Ric Wallace packed a pistol with a priming horn on the tailgate of a pickup truck at the Vidalia RV Park Saturday.

Wallace was one of the re-enactors featured at the Bowie Festival, and he performed his role with authenticity of Bowie’s times.

The priming horn, made from a deer’s antler, made sure the finely ground powder would let off the right amount of spark and smoke from the gun to tell Bowie’s story.

“We practice, but I don’t know how real it’s going to look,” Wallace said.

“It’s really about the history.”

The reason Wallace came from Lafayette, and other re-enactors came from all over the South was because of their shared interest.

“All of us are into it because we love history.”

What the re-enactors try to concentrate on is making sure they are period appropriate.

“We do a lot of research on clothing or guns,” Wallace said.

Anything that was common after the given time period, which meant 1827 on Saturday, cannot be visible during the demonstrations, he said.

Wallace and his fellow re-enactor, Neal Wilkinson, said their wives are dedicated to their hobbies, as well, because they are their seamstresses.

“My wife was up until 10 o’clock last night modifying my britches because they don’t fit,” Wallace said.

Wilkinson of Baton Rouge said of all of the reenactments he participates in, the Bowie scene is the only one that occurs at a festival.

Wallace’s family attended the festival to support him and enjoyed the outdoor scene.

“The temperature is perfect,” said Wallace’s mother, Gerry. “It makes me want to sit back and watch everybody.”

While she waited on her son to perform, she listened to the bands play under the trees and watched children and adults walk by, many hoisting nachos, funnel cakes or other fair foods.

“That’s what I do, I’m a people watcher, and I chair dance,” she laughed and shimmied in her lawn chair.

Volunteer Patricia Anderson said the weather was beautiful, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Several vendors set up shop as well as a few tents promoting Concordia Parish candidates for office.

“There’s some really nice booths, and of course we have the politicians,” Anderson said.

Ashley Nolan and her sister Katie May took their children to the festival, which Nolan said she attended every year as a child.

“We’ve been going since we were their age,” she said, pointing to her sister’s 3- and 5-year-olds.

The event always presents a good opportunity to get the family together, Nolan said.

“We don’t get to get out too much with all the kids together.”

Winners at the festival include the following:

4 Best of the best for pie — Catherine Cartwright; second place — Kate Hughes.

4 Best of the best for cupcakes — Penny Harrigill; second place — Henrietta Braswell.