NATCHEZ &045; A 1,000-person church conference and a Mardi Gras parade will both take place Friday evening but shouldn’t cause parking or traffic problems downtown, Police Chief Mike Mullins said Wednesday.

The Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi’s annual council will start at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Natchez Convention Center.

The Krewe of Alpheus parade, with about 25 entries, will also be held that evening, making its way from the antebellum house Rosalie to Canal, Main, Commerce, Franklin and back to Broadway.

&uot;But the parade isn’t going to roll until 7 p.m.,&uot; Mullins said. &uot;Most (council attendees) will walk from the Eola, and different hotels will shuttle the rest to the convention center.

&uot;We’re asking (council organizers) to get everyone in the convention center and start the program at 6:30 p.m., and we’re not going to shut traffic down (along the parade route) until 7 p.m.&uot;

Those parked along the parade route should move their cars no later than 6 p.m.

This year’s Alpheus parade will carry the theme &uot;Viva Las Vegas,&uot; with Krewe royalty depicting Sin City’s most iconic stars.

Those stars include Elvis and Priscilla Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz and the Blues Brothers, said Krewe of Alpheus President Kay Bourdin.

The krewe’s king, John Goodrich, will portray Elton John; Queen Daphne van Devender, Tina Turner.