Five days of area Fourth of July festivities start Friday, culminating with music and fireworks to celebrate America’s birthday.

The Four Seasons of the Arts and Vicksburg Convention & Visitors Bureau, who have coined this year’s planned festivities, &#8220Independence Day – Southern Style,” have organized many of the events, along with others. The culmination is a list with something for everyone.

Friday there will be a presentation of &#8220Deliverer,” a one-woman show about the life of Harriet Tubman, featuring Mississippi actress Gloria Jackson Winters. The luncheon, hosted by The Museum of African American culture and The Marketplace, will also include a presentation of &#8220Keep Climbing Girls,” a poem written by Vicksburg native and entertainer Beah Richards. The event is at 11:30 a.m. at the Vicksburg Auditorium and tickets are $30.

Port Gibson will also get its celebration started Friday with an exhibit of pictures, stories, costumes, music and dance to pay tribute to Rabbit Foot Minstrels, African American touring companies that had their headquarters in Port Gibson from 1918 to 1950.

Saturday’s events include a God and Country Show with entertainer Paul Ott, a birthday celebration honoring blues legend Willie Dixon and actress Beah Richards, Port Gibson’s annual Blues & Cruise Thru History Motorcycle Rally and Show and a Siege program at Vicksburg National Military Park’s Fort Garrott. Forty pageant contestants and their families from across the state will also be in town for the crowning of Miss Mississippi Outstanding Teen Friday and Saturday at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

Holiday events continue at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center in Vicksburg Sunday with a 4 p.m. Gospelfest featuring the Patrick Smith Band, followed by an ice cream social. Also on Sunday will be a re-enactment of Confederate and Union soldiers on the grounds of the McRaven Tour Home.

As the holiday nears, people will gather at 6 p.m. Monday for a live radio broadcast hosted by Ott at the Vicksburg Convention Center. The broadcast will be followed by the Uncle Sam Comedy Jam at 7 p.m., also at the convention center. The show will feature three comedians who will present material appropriate for all ages.

The Fourth of July holiday will begin with children’s activities at 5 p.m. at the Art Park at Catfish Row. Opening ceremonies for the Independence Day celebration will begin at 7:45 at the Depot Stage, followed by a performance by the Mississippi Symphony Holiday Orchestra at 8:15. A fireworks display will be presented by Ameri-star over the Mississippi River at 9.

City street workers will begin placing barricades as early as Monday morning and some streets will remain closed until 4 a.m. Wednesday. Barricades will be set at Levee and Grove streets, Levee and Jackson streets, Walnut and Grove streets, Washington and China streets and Levee and Clay streets Tuesday between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m. The entrance to the Art Park at Clay and Levee streets will be for pedestrian access only. The area at Levee and Clay streets will also serve as the entrance and exit to and from City Front.

Holiday Activities: The Fourth of July holiday will feature events in Vicksburg, as well as Port Gibson:.

FRIDAY