This weekend promises to be a busy one here in Pahrump with the Wild West Extravaganza kicking off what appears to be the "festival season."

The WWE "Boomtown" will go up Friday and be gone Sunday evening, and while most people are aware of the vendor booths, the Pony Express trail ride and the live entertainment performances by various artists, the Sun Country Cloggers, the Nevada Silver Tappers, the Dancin' Step Follies and the High Desert Line Dancers, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, there are some obscure venues that are a part of the festivities.

This year, the kickoff party for the Pony Express trail ride starts at 5 p.m. Friday evening, Sept. 28, at the Short Branch Saloon in Crystal.

At Saddle West, the opening event is, "Heading South from the Great White North...", a melodrama presented as a family oriented dinner theater, starting at 6 p.m. on Friday as well.

Don't miss the Cowboy Action Shooters' annual shootout at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29. Members of the Single Action Shooting Society will compete in timed rounds and different formats with six-guns, lever-action rifles and shotguns.

Some of the shooters will shoot or fire from the ground and some from horseback. The event takes place at Lone Wolf Shooting Ranch, between Manse Road and Gamebird Road, at the old Wulfenstein pit.

There will be a Civil War re-enactment on the "battlefield" at the south end of the Saddle West Parking lot at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.

This is a "living history" event where the reenactors are totally in character, from the buttons on the uniforms all the way down to the names of the soldiers they portray and the details of their lives.

After the battle, the audience is welcome to ask questions, making this a good history lesson for the kids.

For Civil War buffs, the soldiers represent the 8th Lousiana Infantry, which fought for nearly the entire war in Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

The 4-H'ers will hold demonstrations and sell raffle tickets to "name a turkey"-- not stuff it.

The Pony Express is schedule to deliver the mail at 5 p.m. Saturday, and the Pahrump Gunfighters will periodically "cause trouble" that ends in a shootout sans live ammo.

There should be no weekend boredom, with a barbecue and saloon, games for all ages, a Native American village and a Texas hold'em poker game for charity.

For more information and a complete list of events and times, go to wildwestextravaganza.com or call the Chamber of Commerce at 727-5800.