The 23rd edition of Riverfest kicked off Friday night with music, balmy temperatures and a crowd of 2,500 to 3,000, said board president Erin Hern.

“It is packed,” Hern said at 10:30, just before country singer Jason Michael Carroll, Friday night’s headliner, took the stage. “People are jockeying for front-row spots.”

The celebration blasted off hours earlier with Jackson blues guitarist King Edward, followed by local band The Chill, Clarksdale native Jimbo Mathus and The Tip Tops of Mobile.

The festivities attracted locals and out-of-towners.

“One of the musicians up there, we played together many years ago,” said Bill Bass of Chicot County, Ark., who said he’s been coming to Riverfest for about 14 years, just to see The Chill.

Kelsey Mitchell, who shook a leg with Bass, said she looks forward to the festival.

“I’ve been coming to it for 10 years,” said Mitchell. “I think I can only handle it for tonight.”

This evening, bluegrass artist Mayhem String Band of Oxford will take the stage, followed by tunes by Rocket 88, Reid Stone and the Guilt Ridden Troubadour and Blue Mountain. The headliner will be R&B artist J. Blackfoot.

The 42nd annual Vicksburg-Warren County Riverfest Arts & Crafts Show will kick off at 8 a.m. and will run until 4:30 p.m. along South, Walnut and Crawford streets. Daytime events along Washington Street, including Gospel Fest on the South Stage, will kick off at 10 a.m. All are free.

Other events today include the Bluz Cruz canoe and kayak race along the Mississippi River; Alabama-Mississippi Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Walk MS; Center for Pregnancy Choices Walk for Life; Vicksburg Red Carpet Classic Auto Show; Alcorn State Jazz Fest at the Vicksburg Convention center; and Y’s Men’s Pancake Breakfast at the Purks YMCA.

Today’s forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with a high around 80 and a low around 50. Rain hampered and evenually shut down the 2009 celebration.

This year, the music stage was moved to South and Washington streets, from its usual spot at China and Washington, due to a land shift near a city water main a few blocks north.

Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com