NATCHEZ &8212; Guests dined among Mardi Gras-colored balloons, beads and masks Friday night at the Natchez Food and Wine Festival&8217;s sold-out Taste of the River.

They sampled dishes from local restaurants and guest chefs as well as wines and beers. Then, they voted for their favorites.

High Cotton Catering won Natchez Food and Wine Festival&8217;s award for best food for the second year in a row Friday.

Varnedoe&8217;s Carriage House from Saint Francisville won second place and Pearl Street Pasta won third with six votes separating the two.

Gallo won first in the wine category, with Clois de Bois coming in second and Republic Magnolia winning third.

The judges&8217; award for best presentation and booth went to The Castle, with Comfort in and Suites in second and King&8217;s Tavern in third.

The Castle&8217;s executive chef, Brad Seyfarth, said his stuffed shrimp and crawfish cornbread went with this year&8217;s New Orleans-style theme, &8220;The Little Easy.&8221;

&8220;Even if we don&8217;t win, we&8217;ll have had fun, and that&8217;s what this is about,&8221; Seyfarth said.

A few tables down, last year&8217;s winner, High Cotton&8217;s Doug Hosford was serving up a grilled summer salad with lobster tail and crab claws.

&8220;We always try to pick fresh, local produce, and we use the best ingredients,&8221; Hosford said. &8220;This is what I&8217;d want to eat. And if I like it, most people are going to like it.&8221;

This was Guest chef David Ferris&8217; first year at the festival.

&8220;I&8217;ve had absolutely a blast,&8221; Ferris said, as he arranged his delta catfish cakes with r/moulade vinaigrette, white truffle sauce and arugula. &8220;I want to come again next year.&8221;

Other guest chefs included Luis Bruno from the Mississippi Governor&8217;s Mansion and Scott Varnedoe from Saint Francisville.

Varnedoe said the turnout was great.

&8220;I have a 600-member captive audience,&8221; he said.

Members of that audience each had their favorites. Kate Morris said The Castle&8217;s dish was her favorite.

&8220;The stuffed shrimp are kind of different,&8221; said Morris, who volunteered to pour wine at the festival.

Mary Willard said the catfish cake topped her list.

&8220;I came for the food and the fun,&8221; Willard said.

Krystal Bates and Thomas Figures, college friends, met up at the festival. Figures worked in Natchez at a winery when the festival was started. Even though he now lives in Miami, he came back to sample Natchez&8217; best.

Bates, who lives in Jackson, said Figures got her to come to the festival.

&8220;I wanted a real taste of Natchez,&8221; Bates said.

Laura Godfrey, president of the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce, said the festival was a huge success. The only event not sold out was the Bocce ball tournament on the bluff.

&8220;This is our first year to sell all the tickets for the Friday night event,&8221; Godfrey said. &8220;Last year we had a huge crowd, but we did not sell out.&8221;

Tickets for the tournament and the food that will go along with it will be sold at the door at Bowie&8217;s Tavern.