Another year, another RiverFest.

The popular, annual festival held in downtown Vicksburg wound to a close Saturday night to the sounds of country-rap star Colt Ford.

Kim Hopkins, Vicksburg Main Street Program executive director, said Friday that she expected the weekend to be one of the best for RiverFest.

“We couldn’t have asked for better weather,” she said.

Though attendance estimates were unavailable Saturday evening, visitors Saturday confirmed Hopkin’s beliefs that the sunny skies and temperatures in the low 80s would draw larger-than-usual crowds.

Rebecca Moore and her friend Cheryl McCoy made the trek over to Vicksburg from Jackson to catch Blackjack Billy on the North Stage.

“When we heard he was playing, we knew we had to go,” Moore said.

“She told me about it and said, ‘We’re going,” McCoy said while laughing.

Both said the dry forecast helped encourage them to spend the afternoon in Vicksburg.

“It was pretty good,” she said. “The weather was awesome so that made it even better.”

Edwards residents Bob and Lorrie Murray said they were impressed with their first visit to RiverFest.

“We come to Vicksburg a lot to eat and shop,” Bob Murray said. “We’d never been to RiverFest though.”

Murray said he was impressed with RiverFest’s variety of activities for all ages.

“It’s a nice, enjoyable atmosphere,” he said. “It seems like they’ve got a lot of stuff for the children to do too.”

Vicksburg Police Department Chief Walter Armstrong said Saturday before the concerts began that the number of incidences reported was down from the previous year.

“It’s been extremely quiet up to this point,” he said. “I was down there until 11:30 (Friday) and everybody seemed to be having a good time.”

The only hiccup, he said, were a few incidences of people under the age of 21 consuming alcohol.

“There were a couple of arrests for underage drinking, but even with those instances, none were inside any businesses,” he said.

About 5 p.m., VPD officers were preparing for an influx of people for the concerts that began at 6 p.m.

“I’m certainly expecting more people (Saturday) because there are some big bands,” he said. “However, we have plenty of officers on the street and we’ll be preparing for whatever we have.”

He added that the department has worked closely with the Warren County Sheriff’s Office to patrol the area.

“Each year, we have multiple officers present for RiverFest and the Warren County Sheriff’s Office does the same thing,” he said. “We make sure to work jointly.”

Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said RiverFest was a boon for the entire city.

It’s not just downtown. It goes beyond downtown. It’s the realization of Vicksburg. When I drove around today, I went to the mall and parking lots were full. It’s just been an awesome weekend.