NATCHEZ — Only one team will win a barbecue throwdown at the annual Jim Bowie Festival, but a variety of events are sure to keep Miss-Lou residents enjoying themselves this weekend.

Sunny skies are forecasted for a majority of the weekend, with temperatures staying in the 80s and only a slight chance of showers Sunday evening.

Jim Bowie Festival

The annual Jim Bowie Festival and Barbecue Throwdown kicks off Friday with events lasting through Saturday night at the Riverview RV Park in Vidalia.

Teams from across the country will have an entire day to marinate, season, smoke and cook their barbecue to perfection before volunteer judges evaluate the final product in a double-blind taste test.

The event is classified as a Kansas City BBQ Society sanctioned event. The KCBS sports more than 15,000 members worldwide and sanctions more than 400 barbecue contests across the country.

The contest will also be featured on the TLC show “BBQ Crawl,” hosted by Diva Q Pittmaster — otherwise known as Danielle Dimovski.

Meat inspection for the contest will be at 8 a.m. Friday, and judging will follow at noon the next day with winners being announced at 4:30 p.m.

The festival will feature more than just barbecue, however, as a variety of events will be available to draw people from across the region.

The festival is set to coincide with the Concordia Parish Drug Abuse Resistance Education fishing tournament and will have skeet shooting and archery competitions, a small cooking contest sponsored by the Concordia Parish 4-H, a pet show, the Little Mr. and Miss Jim Bowie Pageant, a mechanical bull riding contest, a hamster water ball and a mobile bungee jump, among other things.

Historical re-enactor Jack Edmonston will recreate Jim Bowie’s famous sandbar knife fight, from which the festival draws its namesake, at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Starting at 7 p.m. Saturday, the musical entertainment will be a live broadcast of Solid Gold Saturday Night with Country Boy Mark Porter. That event will have a separate $10 entry fee.

Entry for Friday and Saturday is $5 both days. Those who want to buy a weekend pass — which includes the Solid Gold Saturday Night show — may pay $15.

Cathedral Fall Festival

Cathedral’s annual Fall Festival will be Saturday and Sunday.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, children can enjoy the elementary playground, the Midway games, cake walk and face painting.

Inside the multipurpose room, arts and crafts, casseroles, homemade candy, scratch cakes and raffle tickets that include a $5,000 cash prize will be available.

Events continue at 5 p.m. Saturday with an adult night paddle wheel night as well as ribs and gumbo dinners.

Events will continue from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Natchez Festival of Music

The University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra will perform “Eternal Elegance, An Evening of Beautiful Music of Mozart and Beethoven” at 7 p.m. today at Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center.

The event is sponsored by The Natchez Festival of Music and tickets to the event are $20 and can be purchased through Natchez Pilgrimage Tours by calling 601-446-6631.

Fall pilgrimage

Natchez Fall Pilgrimage begins Friday and ends Oct. 14 with 16 historic houses on tour throughout the annual event.

Most tours feature three houses each — with a tour in the morning, 9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., and in the afternoon, 1:30 to 5 p.m. Two tours include two houses.

Six other historic mansions and properties will be on tour throughout Pilgrimage for an additional charge.

The tours are color-coded with signs leading visitors through the city and into the countryside from house to house.

Tickets are $30 per person for the three-house tour. A two-house tour is available for $20. Tickets for children ages 6 to 13 traveling with their families are $18 and $12, respectively. Tour tickets are available only at the Natchez Visitor Reception Center, located at 640 S. Canal St. Individual full-price tickets for Longwood, Rosalie and Stanton Hall can also be purchased at the visitors’ center or at the houses.

Humane society yard sale

The Natchez-Adams County Humane Society will host a yard sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday featuring a variety of items such as furniture, clothes and purses, among other things.

All proceeds from the yard sale will go toward the humane society.

The yard sale will be near the intersection of Seargent S. Prentiss Drive and South Shields Lane.

Gun Show

The Natchez Gun Show will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Natchez Convention Center.

Admission is $7 for adults and $1 for children ages 6 to 11.

All federal, state and local firearm ordinances and laws must be obeyed.

Natchez Little Theatre

Mississippi’s oldest community theatre will present for the Civil War Sesquicentennial and Natchez Fall Pilgrimage, Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic, “Little Women.”

Two casts will perform the show 15 times starting at 7 p.m. today as a benefit for NLT’s Building Fund with $10 tickets. Performances will then run every Friday, Saturday, Monday and Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. through Oct. 14, as well as one Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. on Oct. 13, with $15 tickets.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call NLT at 601-442-2233.

Friday Football

Adams County Christian School will host Prentiss Christian, Cathedral School will host Stringer, Natchez High School will host Wayne County and Ferriday High School will host Richwood.

All games begin at 7 p.m. Friday.

Friday forum

This week’s speakers will be discussing Natchez Pilgrimage, the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race and Phatwater Kayak Challenge. The event begins at 8 a.m. Friday at Natchez Coffee Company.