PRESTONSBURG - Expected to draw more spectators than ever before, the 25th annual Jenny Wiley Festival is set to begin Oct. 7, with activities for both the young and old.

The Jenny Wiley Horseshoe Tournament will kick off the festivities on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 10 a.m. in Archer Park and continue through Sunday at 1 p.m. The Jenny Wiley Saddle Club Horse Show, held at the horse park on Watergap Road, will also begin on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 8, will feature beauty contestants from around the area at the Jenny Wiley Pioneer Beauty Pageant, held at the Mountain Arts Center at 1 p.m.

Not only is the Jenny Wiley Festival known for the arts and crafts it features every year, the festival is known a lot for the home cooking it offers throughout the festival. Riverview Manor will be holding a luncheon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 9. Visitors may choose to eat at the nursing home or carry out their lunch. An old-fashioned pie social and chili supper will be held at the Senior Citizens Center at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 10. Patrons are encouraged to bring a pie with them.

Wednesday, Oct. 11, will bring light to some local talent on the city stage at 6 p.m. and Dance Etc. will be performing on the Josh Francis Memorial Field at Prestonsburg High School at the same time. After the local talent leaves the stage Wednesday evening, the Family Academy of Martial Arts will take the stage to show off their stuff.

At 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 12, the arts and crafts tent will open and the carnival will begin at 6 p.m. Members of the festival committee warn patrons that some streets will be closed and they should use caution when trying to enter the downtown area. City Council member Donna Blackburn Wells, also a member of the festival committee, says that organizers hope this will only cause minor inconveniences.

Also on Thursday, McDonald's and the Jenny Wiley Festival will be presenting Gospel Night, featuring The Cookes, Cooke Brothers and David Taylor, beginning at 6 p.m. at the city stage, and a Cornhole Tournament that will begin at 5 p.m. and continue through until 5 p.m. the next day.

Tommy Webb, The Moron Brothers, Five Miles From Nowhere and Dean Osborne will be performing a Bluegrass Bonanza from 4 to 11 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13. The Mountain Arts Center will be hosting the Jenny Wiley Festival Car Show from 8 a.m. to noon and a 5K run will take place at Pro Fitness on Saturday, Oct. 14, with the parade beginning at 3 p.m. at Prestonsburg High School.

Committee members are confident this year's festival will bring more patrons than others in previous years and they are sure there will be a fun activity for everyone.