JACKSON, Miss– Zippity Doo Dah Weekend, World Catfish Festival, Keesler Air Force Base Open House and Airshow. If you didn’t have weekend plans, you do now.
The 40th Annual World Catfish Festival kicks off in Belzona Saturday morning. There are arts and crafts vendors, events for the kids, and bands scheduled throughout the day. Of course, it is all about the catfish, so they’re bringing back a popular event– The Catfish Eating contest. A plate of catfish fillets stacked two pounds heavy that you’ve only got 10 minutes to finish. If you finish the two pounds, they add a pound at a time until the ten minutes is up.
Next stop is Jackson for the Zippity Doo Dah weekend. There are multiple events all weekend long from car giveaways, the anniversary of Sal and Mookie’s, bands playing, and the Zippity Doo Dah parade on Saturday night. The theme of this year’s Zippity Doo Dah parade this weekend is “Bravehearts for Batson.” The grand marshal for the parade is the Braveheart screenwriter and director, Randall Wallace. For a full list of events and a map, visit www.fondren.org.
Looking for something with an adrenaline rush? Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi has you covered. Saturday and Sunday at 9am, the gates to the base open and let in the public for an open house and airshow. Different in-air performances are scheduled throughout the day, with four performances by the United States Army Golden Knights Precision Parachuting team. This isn’t just jumping from planes by any means, says Staff Sergeant Jimmy Hackett.
“We’ll have two jumpers exit the aircraft at one time,” says Sergeant Hackett, “they’ll spread about a mile and a half apart, then fly back towards each other at combined closing speeds of over 300 miles per hour.”
For more information on the airshow, visit the Keesler website http://www.keesler.af.mil/library/keeslerairshowandopenhouse/.
