While real maple leaves will soon begin blowing down Mound City's main drag, these two dressed in maple leaf costumes stepped out in last year's parade. (Photos by Roger Sims/Linn County Journal)
MOUND CITY – The 51st annual Sugar Mound Arts and Crafts Festival will kick off Saturday, Oct. 8, at the Linn County Fairgrounds just north of Mound City on Kansas Highway 7.
The two-day event will run 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Sunny skies are forecast for the weekend, although morning temperatures are expected to dip into the 30s but warm up to near 60 in the afternoons.
The celebration this year begins with the annual Sugar Mound Arts and Crafts parade rolling down Main Street in Mound City beginning at 10 a.m. The theme for the parade is “On the Road Again.” Registration for the parade is on the steps on the north side of the courthouse, and lineup begins at 9 a.m. Send an email to schmitzhouse@icloud.com for more information.
A 5K run for adults and kids 12 and younger is also scheduled for Saturday morning at Jayhawk-Linn High School just west of Mound City on Kansas Highway 52. More details are available by contacting Robert Kellstadt at (620) 224-7050.
A Union Church service will be held on the fairgrounds at 8 a.m. Sunday.
Sunny skies are forecast for the weekend, and while morning temperatures are expected to dip into the 30s, temperatures warm up to near 60 in the afternoons. With the dry weather the county has had since mid-summer, the field at the fairgrounds should handle much of the parking.
Shoppers take their time in looking over handmade crafts at last year's Sugar Mound Arts and Crafts Festival.
All parking is free and additional parking is also available along Main Street and at the Jayhawk-Linn High School parking lot just east of the city. Shuttle buses will run to those locations throughout both days.
Sugar Mound Arts and Crafts Festival Committee chair Kym Hargrove said that the festival will have 300 craft booths, about the same as last year, plus several food booths where shoppers can refuel throughout the day.
Walking tacos and soup in a bread bowl have been favorites at the festival. Other food entries include street tacos, Mexican food, tenderloins, bratwurst, mini donuts and barbecue.
The first event in Mound City, an art show on the courthouse lawn by several local artists, was held in 1971. The threat of rain that year pushed the art show to the shelters at the fairgrounds, and it has been there ever since.
The proceeds from the festival is used to provide scholarships to graduating seniors from Linn County’s three high schools.
For more information, go to www.sugarmoundartscrafts.com or call (913) 795-7500.