Chingawassa Days begins Friday
16th annual Chingawassa Days begins Friday
Chingawassa Days starts Friday evening in Marion and concludes with a church service on Sunday. This year’s festival includes both old and new events and activities.
With wheat harvest starting weeks earlier than usual, the Chingawassa Days committee anticipates farm and festival traffic may interfere with each other this weekend.
The 300 block of East Main Street will be closed from about 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. Saturday. Traffic also is likely to be heavy and slow around Central Park all day Saturday and Friday evening.
Farmers are being urged to use alternative routes to get their grain to the Cooperative Grain and Supply elevator without driving by Central Park. The committee also encouraged festival-goers to be conscientious about not blocking roads or slowing traffic unnecessarily.
Here are highlights of events, all in Central Park unless otherwise noted:
Friday
- Community barbecue, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
- Ice cream social, 6:30 p.m..
- Concert by 7 Bridges Road, an Eagles tribute band, 7 p.m.
- Concert by Last Child, an Aerosmith tribute band, after 7 Bridges Road.
Saturday
- Pancake feed, 7 to 10 a.m.
- Rhino Run 5-kilometer run and 2-mile run/walk, 8 a.m.
- Horseshoe pitching tournament, 8 to 11 a.m. with registration at 7:30 a.m.
- Kansas Anvil Shooters, 8:30 a.m. and noon at the south end of the park.
- Marion’s Amazing Race, starting at 9 a.m. on Main Street and finishing at 10 a.m. in the park.
- Wild Women of the Frontier, 9 a.m. on Main Street and 1:15 p.m. in the park.
- Bed Races, 9 a.m. on Main Street.
- Dinky Duck Race, 9:45 a.m. at the park fountain.
- Chain saw art carving demonstration, 10 and 11:45 a.m. at the southwest corner of the park.
- Portable Pets petting zoo, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- “Kid Zone” inflatables, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Magical entertainer Bob Phillips, 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the gazebo stage and strolling at 11:30 a.m.
- Heads/tails game, 11 a.m.
- Kendall Gammon, former Kansas City Chiefs Pro-Bowl longsnapper and current radio broadcaster, 11:15 a.m. on the gazebo stage.
- Texas hold’em tournament, starting at noon in the yellow tent. Registration begins at 11 a.m.; limited to the first 100 participants.
- Three-on-three basketball starting 12:15 p.m. Registration closes at 11 a.m.
- Rock, paper, scissors tournament, 12:30 p.m. on the gazebo stage.
- Sunflower Stompers cloggers, 12:45 p.m.
- Frozen T-shirt contest, 1:45 p.m.
- Watermelon feed, 2 p.m. in the blue tent.
- Tug-of-war tournament for three-person teams, 2:15 p.m.
- Rhino sculpting contest, 2:15 p.m. at the south picnic tables.
- Bingo, 2:30 p.m. in the blue tent.
- Gladiator grudge matches, 3 p.m.
- Arm wrestling tournament, 3 p.m.
Central Park closes to day passes at 4:15 p.m. A Chingawassa Days button will be required for admittance after
Last modified May 31, 2012