The best stories always start, “Once upon a time…”
This weekend’s Farm City Days carries that theme into a festival packed with magic and adventure.
The fun begins Friday evening with a community dinner from 5:30 to 7 p.m., hosted by Allen County Farm Bureau Association on the east side of the square, along with a street dance until 9. The dinner is catered by Smokin’ Hogs BBQ and is available for a free-will donation.
Games start at 6, with a pedal pull for ages 13 and younger, along with old-fashioned relay races and family games as well as a root beer garden.
Turn the page to Saturday, and you’ll discover even more activities starting with a 5K Fun Run at 8 a.m. That’s also when the music begins at the Jefferson Street Stage. Vendors will be open until 4 p.m.
A car, truck and motorcycle show, hosted by Iola’s Masonic Lodge, takes place on the lawn and welcomes all vehicles. Trophies will be handed out to favorites, and the first 100 who enter receive a gift bag.
The petting zoo opens at 10 a.m.
Miss Chelsea’s Dance Academy performs at 10:15, ahead of the parade, and In Step Dance Academy will perform after.
The parade begins at 11 a.m., and it’s sure to attract a full slate of fantastic, storybook-inspired floats and performers.
The afternoon’s slate includes inflatables on the lawn for kids, and laser tag on Jackson Avenue for adults and kids, all for a fee, from noon to 4 p.m.
Kids can take part in a mini-medallion scavenger hunt at 1:30, while the adults challenge each other at a cornhole tournament at 2.
The day wraps up at the Allen County Fairgrounds Arena, where the LaHaye Bucking Bulls and mutton busting will bring a touch of summer to the start of fall — and the end of the festival.
THE WEATHER forecast predicts near-perfect days both Friday and Saturday, with high temperatures around 73. It should be sunny, though Friday could be a bit windy.
