BELZONI - Heavy rainstorms stopped for the 32nd annual World Catfish Festival Saturday, attended by many Delta residents, other Mississippians and even a few from farther away.
With the Miss Catfish pageant, arts and crafts, toys, funnel cakes, a climbing wall, music and, of course, fried catfish, there was something special that every festival-goer could love.
Belzoni natives Louanne and Jay Morgan were attending their 30th Catfish Festival.
"It's like a reunion. Anyone that's from Belzoni comes home on the weekend of the Catfish Festival," Jay said.
The crowd was smaller than usual due to the weather, he said, but it was nice that the lines weren't as long.
Other than seeing friends, the Morgans' favorite part of the festival is the Belzoni Garden Club play for children. This year's production was "The Wizard of Oz."
Miss Catfish 2007 is Erin Legg of Winona.
"I am overwhelmed right now," Legg said after her crowning. "This if my fourth time to do it. So persistence definitely pays off."
A 20-year-old junior at Mississippi State University, Legg has participated in pageants her whole life and was the first runner-up in the Miss Catfish pageant last year.
She believes the extra research she did on the catfish industry helped her win this year.
Cham Trotter, a Belzoni attorney, served as master of ceremonies. He said it was "a wonderful opportunity to be around some wonderful young ladies and see them shine."
The John Horton Band attracted some crowd members who just had to get up out of their seats and dance as they rocked the Humphreys County Courthouse with electric blues and oldies.
Robert Pilgrim, 62, and Sherry Harris, 56, of Jackson sat nearby to enjoy the music. A coworker told Harris about the festival and inspired them to come up for their first year of catfish and fun.
Woodpipes, carvings and engravings, framed art, yard windmills and jewelry were some booth offerings.
Some new items this year were "hand-carved percussion frogs" by Jimmy Fortenberry, 28, of Gatlinburg, Tenn., who said he'll be coming back to the festival next year.
People of all ages couldn't resist stroking Fortenberry's brightly colored wooden frogs with special wooden sticks to make them croak gently.
His sign read, "It's five o'clock somewhere."
Another booth sold gauzy fairy wings for girls and offered a full princess treatment of nail polish and face painting.
Cheryl Green, 44, and Charles Giompoletti, 59, enjoyed their second year at the festival and said their favorite parts were walking around and eating funnel cakes.
David Lee, 52, of Vicksburg found out about the festival three years ago from friends and has been coming for the music ever since.
Jeana Pethel, 61, and Gary Odom, 63, both of Dallas, made sure they were in town for the festival after reading about it in the March issue of "Southern Living" magazine.
"The food is wonderful. We like the music," Pethel said.
