Fall was in the air Saturday in downtown Vicksburg.

The fun kicked off at 8 a.m. with the 24th annual Old Court House Flea Market at Court Square, where nearly 200 vendors were set up, selling everything from red beans and rice to hand-crafted chairs.

Becky Delrio and a group of her Alpha Phi sorority sisters traveled from Little Rock for the festivities.

&#8220I got out here at about 11:30, and everything has been absolutely great,” said Delrio, admiring glass and bead suncatchers at B.J.’s Beads. &#8220I just love these little things.”

This was the first year B.J. Mathes of Utica had brought her wares to the Flea Market.

&#8220I make all of these myself,” said Mathes. &#8220And it’s funny because these suncatchers capture the light and make these little fireflies on the ground, and the children see them and pull their parents over here.”

Bubba Bolm, curator of the Old Court House Museum, said this year’s Flea Market drew more people than last year.

&#8220We only had about 125 vendors last year because of Hurricane Katrina,” he said. &#8220A lot of our vendors come from the coast area and had to back out. And so many other people were displaced. I’m glad we have all that behind us.”

A few blocks away on Washington Street, Vicksburg’s 12th annual Fall Festival was in full swing.

Six-year-old Baylee Etheridge and her mother, Karen Etheridge, were one of hundreds of festival-goers cruising the downtown streets Saturday.

&#8220She’s having a blast,” said Karen Etheridge. &#8220I think there’s more stuff out here for the kids this year than last year. This is really nice.”

Attractions included food, entertainment by local bands, face-painting by Vicksburg High School’s Key Club members, a moon jump, a rock-climbing wall, free caricature portraits and a Velcro wall.

&#8220I had fun on the Velcro wall, and it wasn’t hard,” said Baylee.

Key Club members Marvin Bure and Charles Canda, both 17, said they were out Saturday to have a good time.

&#8220This is my first year out here, and I’m having fun with everybody,” Canda said. &#8220The weather is real nice for this kind of thing.”

After unseasonably warm temperatures all week, cooler weather came to the area Friday. Lows were in the 50s Friday night; the high Saturday was around 80.

Fall Festival is sponsored by Vicksburg’s Main Street program.

Erin Hern, assistant director, said this year’s turnout was good. &#8220There’s no way to count the number of people coming out here, but we usually have a good turnout – hundreds of people.”