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NATCHEZ — Tickets for the bi-annual Empty Bowls fundraiser to feed the hungry in Natchez go on sale Friday, Feb. 21, but those who want to partake better act fast.

All 350 tickets available will likely sell out quickly, event organizer Patricia Huffines said.

“We have about 400 bowls and keep a little extra for any who walk up the day of and say they didn’t get a ticket,” she said. Ticket holders get the first choice when the fundraiser happens on March 16 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the bandstand on the Natchez Bluff.

In the event of rain, Empty Bowls will be moved inside the Mississippi School of Folk Art at the same time and date, Huffines said.

Tickets are $30 each and are only sold at the Natchez Coffee Company until they are sold out.

“For $30, you can pick a bowl and get gumbo with rice and cornbread,” Huffines said. For any who don’t have tickets, “We tell them they can come from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.” the last half hour of the event to buy a bowl and get some gumbo, she said.

Empty Bowls is an international charity that helps feed the hungry in communities all over the country, including the 300-plus people fed on a daily basis in Natchez.

The bowls are all handmade by potters both from Natchez and other areas within a 300-mile radius. “A lot of time people will send bowls in the mail after hearing about our fundraiser,” Huffines said. “We get them from New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Potters get word about it and they know to pass it forward.”

And because everything is donated, the bowls, the clay, the glaze and the food, Natchez Stewpot benefits 100 percent from the event, she said. “Everything is donated. Every little bit.”

The head gumbo chef is Allen Richard, who makes 50 gallons of gumbo. Johnnie Davis from Natchez Stewpot makes cornbread and rice for the event.

Though each one of the bowls is unique, Huffines said no pre-selecting is allowed. They will be selected on a first come, first serve basis and no one will be allowed inside until the bell rings at 1 p.m. sharp. Huffines said some line up an hour or so early trying to get in first.

“It shouldn’t be about the bowls. It should be about the hungry and people who really need it.

Empty Bowls signifies there are people who don’t have food every day and we’re here to help feed those in need.”