Residents in Natchez and Concordia Parish will have many ways to celebrate the official birthday of the famed civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Both Ferriday and Natchez will have parades Monday, a federal holiday always taking place the third Monday in January.

&uot;We want to help celebrate Dr. King’s birthday,&uot; said Katie Ruth Moore, parade committee chairman for the Natchez-Adams chapter of the NAACP.

Parade organizers also want the event to &uot;help the children understand and know the purpose of what Dr. King stood for,&uot; Moore said.

&uot;A Dream Fulfilled&uot; is the theme of the Natchez parade, which will begin at 2:30 p.m. and will include about 30 entries such as bands, horsemen and bicyclists, Moore said.

The Town of Ferriday will honor King with a march on Monday morning.

The march is for &uot;just whoever wants to come and walk with us,&uot;&160;said Jackie Conner of Ferriday. &uot;It’s just something to help celebrate the occasion.&uot;

The walk will begin at 10 a.m. at the Black Bayou Bridge on Doty Road and end at Rose Hill Baptist Church, concluding with a program at the church.

Participants in the Natchez parade will begin lining up at 1:30 p.m. on Broadway.

The parade will come up Franklin Street, turn left on Martin Luther King Jr. Street and end at Minor Street.

Prior to the parade, young people are invited to the Martin Luther King Youth Luncheon at 11 a.m. at the Isle of Capri Hotel.

In recent years, the annual luncheon has become a popular event, said Shirley Wheatley, interim director of the Natchez Museum for Preservation of Afro-American Culture.

Last year’s attendance of 175 people is evidence of that, Wheatley said.

A program at the luncheon will recognize the era in which King lived and worked, including music and the reading of one of the famous King speeches, Wheatley said.

Lunch will be $10 per person. The Rev. Leroy White will be the guest speaker.

Other activities relating to the King holiday will be the fifth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Rally, which will take place at 5 p.m. Saturday at Christian Hope Baptist Church.

And on Sunday, the public is invited to a 2 p.m. tribute service at Greater New Zion Baptist Church on Oak Street.

Edward Reed, assistant principal at Morgantown Elementary School, will be the guest speaker.