It’s almost time for the Smoky Hill Museum Street Fair!
The annual event in and around the Smoky Hill Museum at 211 W. Iron Avenue in downtown Salina is scheduled for Sept. 28. The street fair is a free day of celebration with music, participatory crafts and activities, demonstrators, food vendors and, of course, the museum itself.
The street fair celebration begins at 10 a.m. with the traditional parade. Due to construction on Santa Fe, the parade will go down Seventh Street from Elm Street to South Street by the Masonic Temple. This year’s theme is “Salina’s Old West” to go along with a new area of the Street Fair. The parade will feature bands, dancers, businesses, and much more.
New this year: Old West area
The fair is adding even more family fun with an Old West area. This area will take the place of the blow-up bouncy houses. There will be horseshoe tossing, roping, blacksmithing, Old West performers, chili cook-off and more!
The public tasting for the chili cook-off will be from noon-2 p.m. and only costs $1.50 to sample chili from four booths. The People’s Choice award and best decorated booth winners will be announced at 2:45 p.m. on the main stage.
This year’s entertainment will alternate between the main stage and a performance area in the Old West section. Here is the schedule for the day:
- 11 a.m.-11:45 p.m. Serenity Stringband, Main Stage
- 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Buffalo Bill & California Joe, Old West performance area
- 12:15-1 p.m. Post Oak Union, Main Stage
- 1-1:30 p.m. Zerf, Old West performance area
- 1:30-2:15 p.m. Rare Groove, Main Stage
- 2:15-2:45 p.m. Mother Bickerdyke, Old West performance area
- 2:45-3:30 p.m. Everyday Lights, Main Stage
- 3:30-4 p.m. Jeff Davidson, Old West performance area
Some of the Old West performers will roam throughout the day. Additionally, a balloon artist, Caden with Color Me Crazy!, will be balloon twisting and roaming as well.
In the Old West performance area are Kirk Shapland and Mark Berry bringing two Kansas scouts to life with historical portrayals of Buffalo Bill and California Joe; David “Zerf” Zerfas performing songs of the wild Kansas frontier; Lu Adams introducing audiences to an amazing woman with a historical portrayal of Mother Bickerdyke; and Jeff Davidson playing western music highlighting western history.
Main Stage performers are all local groups starting out with Serenity Stringband, a blend of five veteran musicians from various musical backgrounds,based at the north end of the Chisholm trail in Abilene. They are followed by Post Oak Union, a Salina based rock ‘n’ roll /blues quartet playing a diverse selection of tunes that you know and love but rarely hear played live. Rare Groove is an Americana, soul, and jazz project/band of exceptional Salina musicians with histories of solo and joint musical projects over the past 10 years and more. The closer for the Main Stage is Everyday Lights, a group of Salina-based musicians with a love for folk and jazz rhythms. Their unique instrumentation and improvised harmony gives them a fresh, creative sound that is best realized in their original music.
Demonstrators will be on hand from 11 a.m.–4 p.m. featuring the Salina Art Center with their Art Cart; Curt Krob with seriously fun art Papier Mâché Sculpture; Brad Hoppock with participatory puppet shows; Christopher Riley providing bubble fun; and One Salina providing Papal Picado (Mexican Folk Art). In addition, the Old West area will have Brian Holdsworth , blacksmith, and Dean Gipe, rope making.
Favorite activities for kids of most ages include free make-and-take crafts, caricaturists, and face painting. There will also be brief tours of downtown at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. with John Burchill.
And what is the street fair without food? You will have your choice of Navajo Tacos, Texas Reds BBQ, kettle corn, Sno Wizard’s snow cones, and good old American fare with Skips Concessions.
The museum gallery is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. for everyone to enjoy the special exhibit, The Creative Spirit. In addition, there is the popular hands-on interactive exhibit, The Curiosity Shop.
Thanks to sponsorships from many dedicated Salina residents and businesses, there is no cost to attend this day of celebration.
Watch the museum website, www.smokyhillmuseum.org, for the most up-to-date information and come celebrate autumn on Sept. 28 at the Smoky Hill Museum Street Fair.