Large 18-wheelers carrying brightly colored bulbs, cars andmotorized contraptions began bringing in the Lincoln CountyCarnival piece by piece Monday, with the event scheduled to startWednesday.

The final preparations are being made at the Lincoln CivicCenter to ensure the second annual Lincoln County Carnival spinsoff Wednesday through Sunday without a hitch, packing the sameamount of fun as last year’s event.

“We’re very excited about the event and what it has to offer fornot only Lincoln County, but the citizens of SouthwestMississippi,” said Lincoln Civic Center General Manager QuinnJordan.

The carnival will be enticing visitors to the civic center allweek with a new deal each day.

There will be a free concert sponsored by area churches underthe covered arena from 5 until 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. In addition tothe live entertainment, armbands can be purchased on Wednesday for$15, which will allow ride enthusiasts to enjoy as much as they canhandle.

On Thursday, it will only cost one ticket per ride and astatewide political meet and greet is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.From Friday until the event’s end on Sunday, visitors can pay oneprice of $20 to ride as much as one’s stomach can handle. Singletickets will also be available for $1.25 each.

“We just want to make this economical for the citizens of ourcommunity,” said Jordan. “With these deals and rides, it turns intoa great opportunity for a fun, family-oriented (event).”

The carnival will open at 4:30 p.m. from Wednesday untilSaturday. The fair will shutdown at 10 p.m. on the weekdays and11:30 p.m. on the weekends. On Sunday, the event will operate from2 until 8 p.m.

On-site parking will be available for a small fee, with part ofthe proceeds benefiting the Lincoln County volunteerfirefighters.

North American Midway Entertainment (NAME), the same companyresponsible for the state fair and last year’s carnival, begansetting up a few of the 18 rides they brought into town Monday.

“You’ve got a lot of thrill rides, the merry-go-round and a lotof kiddie stuff,” said NAME Unit Manager Bob Gill.

Lighting up the Lincoln County sky will be the 100-foot giantwheel, signaling to area residents the carnival has arrived.

“This year’s rides will be in line of what we had last year,”said Jordan.

No carnival is complete without curly fires and funnel cake.

New to this year’s fair will be a Food Alley, which will providechicken plates, loaded potatoes, chicken on a stick, steaksandwiches and various other treats to keep carnival goershappy.

“We’ve got a great variety and mixture (of food),” said Jordan.”We have six carnival food vendors and five local vendors.”

Jordan said all those involved in bringing the carnival backthis year are proud to offer something like this to the community.He is looking to see a 30 to 40 percent increase from last year’sevent.

Jordan also said he hopes to turn the carnival into SouthwestMississippi’s spring state fair.

“Every year we’re going to grow this thing,” said Jordan.