From model railroad displays and live music to a car show and century race, it’s shaping up to be a busy weekend in the Queen City with lots of family friendly events to entertain people of all ages.

Singing Brakeman Park and Front Street in downtown Meridian will see the bulk of visitors to the city on Saturday, Nov. 2, for a wide range of events.

Earth’s Bounty

Earth’s Bounty will hold its last festival of the season — and its final market at Singing Brakeman Park — from 8 a.m. until noon. When the 2025 Earth’s Bounty season kicks off the first Saturday in April, the festival will move up Front Street to the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience Courtyard. Admission to Earth’s Bounty is free.

On hand for this Saturday’s market will be vendors offering honey, eggs, fresh breads and baked goods, soaps, candles and a limited amount of fall produce. 

One new vendor, Dough-Re-Mi, will offer hand-crafted, organic, non-GMO products like pumpkin spice bread for the holidays, plus muffins and cookies, according to an Earth’s Bounty press release. Some vendors will also be taking orders for holiday baked goods so interested shoppers should be sure to place their orders. 

In his debut performance at Earth’s Bounty, Casen Bryce Holmes, a young performer from Kemper County, will provide entertainment from 8-11 a.m.

Railfest

Railfest will kick off at the Meridian Railroad Museum, next door to Singing Brakeman Park, at 9 a.m. and run until 3 p.m. A favorite of local railfans, the event is free for children and $5 for adults.

The museum’s largest annual sponsored event, Railfest brings rail enthusiasts from around the region to celebrate rail history and enjoy railroad memorabilia. The event is great for all ages and will feature a model train show and sale, railroad displays, kids activities, a food truck and vendors, said Executive Director Anne McKee.

“We feature a few new and different model trains,” she said of the museum’s models that will be on display. “One is a collectible Lionel 1949 model and another is a replica of downtown Meridian from earlier years, as well as another displaying Front Street from the 1930s.”

Storytellers will be on hand to relate early tales of Meridian when steam engines were known as iron horses and the city was named Sowashee Junction, she said.

Vendors will display items and collectibles for sale and swap, and the miniature train will run throughout the event, offering free rides to children, McKee said. Bayou & Blues, a group based in Hattiesburg featuring local guitarist Terry Cherry, will provide entertainment.

Soulé Live Steam Festival

A couple of blocks over from Singing Brakeman Park, the 21st annual Soulé Live Steam Festival, which celebrates Mississippi’s industrial heritage, will take place Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children and students on Saturday. On Friday, students and children are admitted for free. Food vendors will be available.

The event is unique, drawing visitors of all ages from across the nation who want to see how things were made and how people worked back in the early 20th century. The Soulé museum features a permanent collection of portable and stationary steam engines that operate using real steam and not compressed air. The museum’s belt-driven machine shop will be in operation at the festival, and blacksmiths will demonstrate in the Soulé forge. Other industrial tradesmen also will be on hand showcasing their skills.

Scarecrow Celebration

Also at Singing Brakeman Park on Saturday, Illuminations Center for Dyslexia will hold its annual Scarecrow Celebration and Fall Festival from 3-7 p.m. The family friendly celebration for all ages will conclude the center’s fourth annual scarecrow contest that has taken place across the city during the month of October.

Fair rides, food trucks and vendors will be available at the celebration. Entertainment will be provided by Josh White and Zack Edmonds, Blackwater Revival and the Meridian High School band.

Also to be announced during the event are the first, second and third-place winners of the scarecrow contest, earning their makers prizes and bragging rights for the next year.

Century Race and Car Show

It’s a big weekend for the Jimmie Rodgers Foundation with the annual Singing Brakeman Century Race and Ride and an inaugural Singing Brakeman Car Show planned for Saturday.

Dozens of riders are registered to take a tour by bike of the birthplace of country music in the fourth annual Singing Brakeman Century Race and Ride. The 100-mile Full Century Ride will launch at 8 a.m. from city hall lawn in downtown Meridian, followed by the 62-mile Metric Century Ride at 8:30 a.m. and the 30-mile Tour Ride at 9 a.m. Those on the full ride will tour the back roads of Rodgers’ birthplace and head to Philadelphia, home to the Congress of Country Music, before circling back and ending downtown.

In conjunction with the ride, the Singing Brakeman Car Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the city hall lawn. A day of festivities are planned with live music, refreshments, food trucks and lots of polished chrome and powerful engines for car enthusiasts to enjoy and marvel at as they await the return of the Century Race riders. All makes, models and car years are welcome to enter the show with judging set to take place from noon until 2 p.m.

The MAX

This weekend marks the First Saturday of the month which means free admission to the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Artist Angi Cooper will conduct a sold-out watercolor workshop at this month’s First Saturday, but visitors can still view the museum’s current exhibit, “The South’s Most Elusive Artist: Walter Anderson,” as well as tour its permanent exhibits, recording studio and the Hall of Fame.

MCM-Meridian

Mississippi Children’s Museum-Meridian will welcome local artist Cary Haycox for a printmaking workshop on Sunday from 2-4 p.m. as part of its visiting artist series. Regular museum admission is $10. The museum’s visiting artist workshops are a project supported in part by funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.