CARROLLTON - The Big Sand Creek Festival is playing its third annual engagement on the courthouse square here Saturday.
Action starts in front of the Merrill Museum, on the southwest corner of the square, with a 5K walk and run, at 8:30 a.m. A 1-mile fun run will start from the road behind the Carrollton Post Office, which is nearby, said Race Director Wilton Neal. The fun run is limited to ages 12 and under. Registration is from 7:15 to 8:15 a.m.
The festival starts at 9 a.m., with arts and crafts vendors set up around the square, and shuts down at 3 p.m., said Vicki Bankston, chairman and president of the sponsoring Carroll Society for the Preservation of Antiquities.
A motorcycle and boat show will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on the strip eastward from the Merrill Museum.
Items to be sold at booths will include jewelry, pottery, ceramics, woodwork, stained glass and Ricky Carter's ironworks. The Carrollton/North Carrollton Volunteer Fire Department will lead the food vendors, selling barbecued ribs and chicken.
A Little and Tiny Miss Pageant starts at 1:30 p.m. on the east side of the courthouse, Bankston said. The deadline for entering either pageant is Wednesday night at 6, when Bankston will conduct a meeting at the courthouse to explain pageant rules. For details, call Bankston at 237-0408.
"Tiny" entrants are from 18 months to 3 years old, and "Little" contestants are from 4-6. There is a $35 entry fee.
Entertainment, set up on the east side of the courthouse, begins at 9 a.m. with Tonya Goss of Avalon singing country songs. Other performers are to be Michael Locke and Jamie Locke, both of Durant, who perform country music as single artists, said chairman Angie S. Costilow. The gospel group Promise from Coila will round out the live entertainment, leading up to the start of the beauty pageant.
The CSPA museum, showcasing local history, also will be open.
