NATCHEZ — The Pilgrimage Garden Club Antiques Forum begins today and continues through Saturday.

The forum is a fundraiser for preservation of the Pilgrimage Garden Club’s two antebellum properties, Stanton Hall and Longwood.

This year’s theme, “The Golden Years: Antiques in the Antebellum South, 1780-1860,” will focus on furniture, art, glass and metals from that time period.

The forum co-chairs are Esther Carpenter, Eugenie Cates and Bridget Green.

Each year the forum is organized with guidance from Wendell Garrett, editor-in-chief of The Magazine Antiques and an antiques consultant for Sotheby’s.

Garrett has been affiliated with the forum since it began more than 30 years ago. He will deliver the first lecture of the forum on Friday morning.

Tonight’s kicks off the forum with a cocktail reception from 7 to 9 p.m. at Stanton Hall that gives attendees the opportunity to meet with the featured speakers for the forum.

Lectures begin at 9:15 a.m. Friday. Friday’s four lectures will focus on American art, glass in Southern homes, non-precious metals and Baltimore furniture.

Lecture topics for Saturday are prints of Southern flora and fauna and the Natchez furniture trade.

The forum concludes with tours of three private Natchez homes and a lunch.

Tickets for the full forum are $150 for local residents and $275 for people coming from out of town.

One-day tickets for Friday are $175 per person and one-day tickets for Saturday are $125.

This year a special offer is available that allows attendees to hear two Friday lectures of their choosing, the coffee and photograph exhibit for $45.

Tickets can be purchased by phone at 601-445-7479 or online at www.natchezpilgrimage.com.

For more information on the forum, visit www.antiquesnatchez.com.

Registration is at the Natchez Grand Hotel.

The forum is approved as a continuing education unit by the American Society of Interior Designers.