by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Here are 10 things to know about the busy, busy weekend that is the Wellington Homecoming and Fall Festival. And it starts tonight! For the full schedule of events click here or click on the ad to your right.

The WHS band will be marching tonight.

1. Wellington High School parade.

The Wellington High School homecoming parade will start at 6:30 p.m. in downtown Wellington. There will be your traditional floats, the WHS band, the football boys on trailers and a pep rally thereafter.

Amy Diver was crowned in 2014. Who will be next?

2. Wellington Duchess ceremonies.

The annual Wellington Duchess ceremony will begin on Friday at halftime of the Wellington vs. Wichita Collegiate football game with kickoff at 7 p.m. The Duchess candidates are: Alexis Hinman, Ryleigh Buck, Madi Adams, Dietra Sober and Baylee DeJarnett.

Once the crowning and the football game is completed, a WHS homecoming dance will follow in the high school commons.

3. Barbecue/Chili/Salsa Cook Off.

Perhaps the primary feature of the Fall Festival will come Saturday with the various cook offs at Sellers Park. The barbecue competitors will begin cooking on Friday night at 5 p.m. Then on Saturday the Chili cook-off starts with the head cooks meeting at 10 a.m. followed by the official Chamber Salsa contest at 11 a.m. and the BBQ Cook Off tasting and People’s Choice Award starts at noon. The public tasting for the chili cook is at 3 p.m.

4. The entertainment.

While you are having your cook off consuming adventure there is plenty of entertainment to go with the festivities. South Central Express will be performing live music from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Sellers Park. Kids games and crafts will start from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Also at 1:15 p.m. there will be a performance by Michelle’s Encore Dance Studio.

5. And then there are the other things at Sellers…

While there, don’t miss the Arts and Crafts Show that goes from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Jalapeño Eating contest starts at 1 p.m. Need to cool off after that? Well, there’s the homemade ice cream contest at 1:30 p.m. And if you aren’t full enough, there is the Apple Pie baking contest at 2 p.m. The extravaganza ends with a pumpkin drop at 3 p.m.

6. Then let’s get spooked…

The Wellington High School Leadership Team will be setting up a haunted maze from 7 to 9 p.m. at Sellers Park. The team will then feature the movie “The Ring” at 9:15 p.m. which should end by about 11 p.m. The cost will be $1 wristband. Fall like concessions will be for sale during the movie. The movie is rated PG-13 and may be inappropriate for anyone under middle school age.

WHS Class of 1975

WHS Class of 1980

7. Reunions…

The Class of 1975, 1980 and 1985 will be holding their class reunions all starting at 9 p.m. The Class of 1975 and 1980 will be at Memorial Auditorium which is open to the public. The Class of 1975 will actually be meeting on two nights. The first one is a homecoming After Party at the VFW.

Then on Saturday, the 1975 and 1980 Class Reunion will be held at Memorial Auditorium with catering by Mimosa Catering. Happy hour will be 6 to 7 p.m. and Dinner at 7 p.m. The dance is open to the public at 9 p.m.

Tickets at the door is only $5. Bring your own booze. Setups are provided by the Memorial Auditorium Committee with proceeds going to the air conditioning fund for the Memorial Auditorium. Music is provided by Wellington’s own Ebony Costello and Groove 42.

The 1985 reunion will be at the American Legion building and Foodie Mike is catering.

8. Fun Run…

Also, don’t forget about the Fun Run on Saturday morning. See information here .

9. Wheat Capital Manor…

There will be a Fall Festival Craft & Bake Sale on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. They will also be raffling off three separate tickets for a 43-inch flat screen TV, KU quilt and K-State quilt. See more information here.

10. Senior Center…

The Wellington Senior Center will also be having fall festival events.

Follow us on Twitter.