The Katy Rice Festival will be held this weekend from Friday through Sunday, beginning Friday night at 6 p.m. The event will include vendors selling crafts and food, a carnival and live music that includes two bands on Friday, five bands on Saturday and two on Sunday.

“We invite [the community] to come out and enjoy some quality arts and crafts, live music [and] an excellent carnival,” said Kayce Reina, the city’s director of tourism, marketing and public relations. “It’s going to be fun for the whole family.”

Reina said there is still a need for volunteers for the festival, especially Saturday evening and Sunday. Those interested in volunteering may sign up by clicking on the “volunteer” link at www.katyricefestival.com, she said.

A live music schedule is also available on the website.

The festival will include a parade at 9 a.m. Saturday morning and will include emergency vehicles, tractors, horses and candy for spectators. The parade route will wrap around old Katy on Tenth Street, Drexel Drive, Fifth Street and Avenue C.

Katy Mayor Chuck Brawner applauded Reina’s efforts to plan the festival on short notice. The Katy Area Chamber of Commerce had to bow out of sponsoring the event in June due to budget constraints, leaving little time for the city to take on the task of planning the festival, officials said. The city renamed the event from The Katy Rice Harvest Festival to the Katy Rice Festival.

“[Reina] was over all of that, and she has done an outstanding job for the first time around and on very short notice,” Brawner said.

Brawner said he will be at the festival over the weekend, and the city expects good weather for the event. The National Weather Service forecast shows highs in the low-to-mid eighties this weekend and lows in the sixties.

“I think all in all this is a new beginning for an old Katy tradition,” Brawner said. “I’m looking forward to seeing many people here over the weekend.”