This weekend B.B. King returns to Indianola for the annual B.B. King Homecoming Events there.

On Friday he's performing at an open-air concert at Fletcher Park, and later in the evening he's performing across town at the Club Ebony, which he purchased in 2008. For ticket availability, call (662) 207-7498.

On Wednesday King played at Delta State University's Bologna Performing Arts Center for a sold-out audience, and also gave Gov. Haley Barbour a personal tour of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola. It was the governor's first visit to the facility, which opened in 2008.

Saturday's event at Fletcher Park will also feature country star and Philadelphia native Marty Stuart, who will be honored with a Mississippi Country Marker on July 25.

In 1997 King and Stuart recorded the duet Confessin' the Blues for King's album Deuces Wild.

Other artists at the event, which begins at 5 p.m. Friday, are Grady Champion, L.C. Ulmer & Chase Hollifield, the Mike Holloway Band, and, from Chicago, the Columbia College Blues Ensemble Allstars. The leader of that group, bluesman Fernando Jones, will perform at a free event at Delta State's BPAC at 7 tonight.

On Saturday Indianola hosts the all-day Blues, Bikes and BBQ festival, which includes a motorcycle "poker run" that will visit multiple Mississippi Blues Trail markers. Details, (662) 887-2170.

The B.B. King Museum is open for tours over the weekend and will host musical acts including blues artists Mickey Rogers, Jerry Fair & Alfonso Sanders, Good Paper, and Jake and the Pearl Street Jumpers.

Scott Baretta
The Clarion Ledger