October in Vicksburg will be jam-packed with events suited for falling leaves, cool temperatures, jamming tunes and jack-o-lanterns.

And coming home.

About 600 Carr Central High School graduates are expected for a reunion beginning at 5 p.m. Friday at the Vicksburg Convention Center, said planner Ethel Pickens. Former students, friends and family are included, she said.

On the next day, downtown Vicksburg will offer another sort of homecoming with the 24th Annual Old Court House Flea Market at Court Square and the 12th annual Fall Festival along Washington Street.

The flea market will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the downtown festivities begin at 10.

Also at 10, a mural of Carr Central will be unveiled at City Front.

&#8220This year it will be special with the Carr Central High School reunion people coming back home,” said Bubba Bolm, curator of the Old Court House Museum and planner for this year’s flea market. &#8220It’s an activity downtown for when you come back home. It’s one of those community events everybody attends – an opportunity to go out and see friends.”

Bolm said nearly twice as many vendors have signed up to sell goods this year as last year. He believes all of the 200 craft and food booths available will be filled.

Jambalaya, crawfish and funnel cakes will be among the food offerings, while the market vendors will offer everything from jewelry and wind chimes to Christmas ornaments and yard art. Dress-up party photos, hermit crabs, Civil War relics, soaps and water-spitting lizards will also be on hand.

Live music will lead people west to Washington Street, where children’s activities, exhibitions and festival foods will be offered, and musical acts will perform at River Stage Plaza from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Children’s activities will include Little Red Trolley train rides, a moon jump, clowns, face painting, rock climbing, a giant slide, a Velcro wall and an obstacle course, said Main Street director Rosalie Theobald.

Exhibitions will be at the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau parking lot at 1221 Washington St. Downtown merchants along Washington Street will also offer goods with sidewalk sales, Theobald said.

More live music will be heard from the Vicksburg Convention Center, home to the first Mississippi Celebrates the Birthplace of America’s Music. On Saturday, the first day of events will begin with a talent search preliminary at 8 a.m. The remainder of the festival will run from Oct. 13-15.

Because of the extra walking traffic expected during the weekend, Theobald said Horizon Casino has donated a shuttle bus to take Carr Central graduates from the mural unveiling to the festival and flea market. The bus then will continuously loop around the Old Court House Museum and to Washington Street throughout the day.

&#8220It’s a wonderful time to stroll the streets and get out and about – when you have fall fever,” she said.

Other events during October will include: