CHARLESTON, Mo.

There are always more azaleas and dogwoods than people in Charleston, even this weekend during the town's 37th annual Dogwood-Azalea Festival.

Friday was a lazy afternoon as people from all over Missouri and bordering states sauntered through the town, stopping literally to smell the flowers or pose for a picture in front of the blooming plants. But as the day wore on and passengers stepped off their buses, the streets grew crowded.

Forty-seven buses and more than 15,000 people are expected to arrive at this year's festival, which began Thursday and continues through Sunday.

The main attraction is the town's claim to fame -- a 6-mile dogwood-azalea trail beginning at Commercial Street in the center of town. By following painted pink arrows on the streets, tourists can drive through the trail at their own pace or walk the distance for an up-close look.

Residents can't even begin to estimate how many azaleas and dogwoods line the streets.

"There are probably over 400 azaleas in this yard alone," said Diane Peters, Molly French Garden Club president.

That number does not include the 500 potted plants the club expects to sell throughout the festival. Since 1952, they have supplied area gardeners with azalea varieties and currently maintain gardens at city hall and on the corner of downtown.

Mickey Mowll and Wadine Eaker have bought azaleas from the Molly French Club in previous years and now have a bit of Charleston in their own yards. Even though the two friends have attended the festival for years, because they are only a short drive away in Sikeston, they say they never tire of looking at the blooming flowers.

"It's always pretty," Eaker said. "And what a beautiful day."

Today is the height of the festival. A parade is planned for 11 a.m., and the events culminate with a candlelight tour through the city at nightfall. Six thousand white luminaria will light the entire dogwood-azalea trail, and five musical acts will be performing at points along the trail to put a sway in the steps of those walking under the canopy of dogwood trees.

Between the parade and candlelight tour, activities will include a barbecue cook-off, carriage rides, petting zoo and a carnival.

Rowland Park is the hot spot, with almost 100 craft and food vendors.

Steve and Dan Parsons are brothers from Benton, Ky., attending the festival for the second year as craft vendors. Their tent displays hundreds of ceramic incense burners and also incense they make by hand.

Steve Parsons said the intricate ceramic creations can take up to 24 hours to make.

Teresa Gemeinhardt is not just an artist in Charleston for the weekend. She actually lives in town, and the pictures she takes of flowers are from the area, including her favorite, Dutchman's britches, which looks like a man's pair of paints upside down.

She said most were taken within a 15-mile radius of town, many in her own back yard.

Not all of the weekend's events involve flowers.

A favorite stop for the bus tours is the Mississippi County Historical Society's Moore Home. An estimated 1,200 people will tour the three-story Victorian home built in 1899 an fully furnished with authentic period pieces and an 1810 bedspread.

"This is our biggest weekend," said Tom Graham, president of the historical society board.

cpierce@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127