TALLADEGA — Over the next few days, the city of Talladega will host numerous activities to commemorate its 175th anniversary.

Events for Friday include a wine and cheese tasting at Heritage Hall featuring products made in Alabama and includes a souvenir 175th wine glass. The wine tasting is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

There will also be a sit-down dinner and dance starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Gilchrest Room of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind featuring the six-piece big band Trade Winds. Seating is limited.

Also at 7 p.m. Friday is the USA Powerlifting Alabama State Championship, a fundraiser for the Special Olympics, at the Helen Keller School. Admission is free. Participants will be coming in from Alabama and six other states.

Friday peaks with a performance by Alabama native and season four American Idol runner up Bo Bice, who will perform at the Ritz Theater starting at 8 p.m. Floor seats are $32, mezzanine seats are $28. According to a press release announcing the event, Bice’s “down home style of southern rock, mixed with a little Gospel, is sure to be as big a hit in Talladega as he was on ‘American Idol.’”

Saturday morning’s events kick off with a 5K to benefit Hope Academy. The cost of the event is $15 for an individual, $30 per family, and each participant gets a free T-shirt. The powerlifting championship continues at Helen Keller at 9 a.m., again with free admission.

Starting at 9:30 Saturday morning, there will be a parade honoring the Talladega College men’s and women’s basketball teams, who both won USCAA championships this year. This is the second consecutive national championship for the men’s team.

The parade begins at the old Talladega Shopping Center (Winn-Dixie) at Johnson and North Streets, then down Battle Street, stopping at the square to kick off the celebration with the National Anthem and flag raising, then continue on to the campus itself.

Heritage Hall has scheduled various art exhibits all day Saturday, including an exhibit depicting the Battle of Talladega in 1814 and a collection of Frances Upchurch’s paintings of historic buildings. There will be live art exhibits on the lawn, and the Hall of Heroes, next door at the Armstrong-Osborne Public Library will be open as well.

Local musicians will be performing live on the square and on the Chamber of Commerce parking lot from 11 a.m. Saturday to 6:30 p.m. In addition to a choir competition Saturday morning, performers in any number of musical styles. There will also be a children’s fair in the chamber parking lot from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and a food court from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Also Saturday, at the top of the hour from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Talladega College will offer tours of the world famous Amistad Murals, followed by a performance of the Talladega College Student Choir, the Golden Voices, at DeForest Chapel.

“American Idol” season two runner up Ruben Studdard will give two shows Saturday, at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets for both shows are $25 floor and $22 mezzanine.

“His unique interpretation of ‘Superstar’ led to his first album, ‘Soulful,’ debuting on the Billboard Chart at number one,” according to the release. “Alabama’s Velvet Teddy Bear will perform his hits such as ‘Flying Without Wings,’ ‘Change Me’ and his latest single, ‘Don’t Make ‘Em Like U No More.’”

A fireworks display begins at 7:30 p.m.

For Sunday, a time capsule will buried at the Big Spring Monument staring at 1:30 p.m., and there will be a special screening of “The Notorious Sophie Lang” and “The Return of Sophie Lang,” both starring Talladega native Gertrude Michael as an international jewel thief. Each movie will be proceeded by a short historical narrative regarding the city’s history.

Admission to both shows is 5 cents, just like it was when the Ritz Theater opened in 1934.

The 175th anniversary celebration is a collaboration of the city of Talladega, The Greater Talladega Area Chamber of Commerce and Antique Talladega, which operates the Ritz Theater.