COMANCHE — Come ’n get it.

The dinner bell will be ringing long and hard when the Old West Fest rolls into Jackson Park in Comanche Saturday, and organizers say they have put together an even bigger and better event than the one last year.

Two featured activities out of a list of many for the one-day event are the chuck wagon cookoff and gunfighter shows.

As of Wednesday, five chuck wagon cooking teams had signed up for the cookoff contest to be judged by the Comanche City Council.

The judges will sample each team’s version of authentic old-time recipes, and the public will get to eat once the judges have finished tasting the entries.

Meal tickets are $5 each, available at the Chamber of Commerce tent. Ticket holders may choose any one of the chuck wagons to trade the ticket for a meal of meat, potatoes, beans, bread and a dessert.

Cash prizes will be given to the top three chuck wagon teams. Another prize will be awarded to the most authentic site.

“You can be a lousy cook and still win $100 if you look good,” said City Manager Brant Ball, one of the main organizers.

Another is Ron Goetz, who has a warning for the hungry folks eating at certain times during the festival: Don’t get too startled and choke on the food when the gunfight begins.

Players from the Old West Production Company have signed on to do four shows during the day that will also mark their inaugural performance.

The Old West gunfighters are made up of 10 former members of the Marlow Gunfighters Association, including Goetz, who are striving to produce the most realistic show possible. They have two different skits ready for Saturday.

“We have a small town built on trailers that we’ll bring down Friday evening for rehearsals,” Goetz said.

The town will be made up of a saloon, a bank and a jailhouse, complete with a wooden sidewalk to enhance the show.

“We use really authentic items, all the way down to the smallest details,” said Don Hagan, who plays Wyatt Earp for the production company. Hagan displayed his gun to emphasize that point, which he said is the same model that was used in the movie “Tombstone.”

One of the things that will be new to this year’s festival is the variety of vendors that will be on hand. Ball said that at the 2005 Old West Fest, vendors were allowed to display only items that were around in the Wild West days.

That restriction was removed in the interest of making a bigger festival, but Ball said there will be plenty of things at the festival to stay with the old west theme.

In that category are the “smithies,” otherwise known as blacksmiths. At least two, and possibly three, blacksmiths will set up a display and make souvenirs, which can then be purchased by the people who watch them being made.

Allen Wooten is supplying the music and will provide some familiar country favorites.

“We brought in a professional group of country singers,” Goetz said. “They’re used to putting on ‘hootenannies’ every month.”

The tunes will be pumped out of a sound system new for this year’s festival, which also includes a cordless microphone feature that will allow the master of ceremonies to speak from anywhere in the park.

Also new to this year is the Kiss a Pig fundraiser contest, where festival attendees can vote by making donations on behalf of a candidate. The candidate represented by the most donations gets to kiss a pig on stage in front of all the attendees.

Organizers are also encouraging entries to the pie contest, to be judged by local ministers.

And a Texas Hold’em poker tournament will be held with no cash on the line. Instead of gambling with money, the winner will get a prize.

A “kids carnival” will be set up to keep the younger cowpokes entertained, and firetrucks will be on display for an up-close view and photo opportunities.

Prizes donated by area businesses will be given away about every 20 minutes during the festival.

Marvin Johnson was in charge of rounding up the prizes, and he collected so many “I had to tell him to stop,” Ball said. “I sat down and started doing the math and figured out we’re going to have to give something away every few minutes just to get rid of it all. It just goes to show how businesses support everything that goes on in town.”

Among the items to be given away by random drawing are camping passes to Comanche Lake, a round of golf, a telephone, gift certificates and many others.

This is only be the second time around for the Old West Fest, and Ball said it probably won’t be the last. He estimated that about 400 people attended last year and expects to have many more than that, because of the larger variety of vendors and because word about the festival has had a chance to spread. Also, the city-wide yard sale was purposely scheduled to coincide with the Old West Fest to attract even more people.

“Hopefully, we’ll outgrow the park,” he said, adding that if the festival catches on, Comanche will have to move it to a larger park west of town next year.