PHILADELPHIA — Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and Attorney General Jim Hood will headline the first day of political speeches at the Neshoba County Fair.

Also scheduled to speak Wednesday are State Auditor Stacey Pickering, Central District Public Service Commissioner Lynn Posey and Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall.

Speaking at the east Mississippi fair is a decades-old tradition for politicians, a link to how politics was conducted before the rise of radio, television and the Internet. Much of the state’s political class gathers to gossip at the weeklong event.

State Supreme Court candidates and Gov. Phil Bryant are among those scheduled to speak Thursday.

The lineup is shorter this year than in 2010, when three days of speechmaking was required to accommodate a full slate of statewide candidates.