Sugar Mound Arts & Crafts organizers say festival is packed with vendors

The historic band wagon housed at the Mound City Historical Park is one of the draws of the Sugar Mound parade. (Journal file photo)

Journal staff report

MOUND CITY – The 2026 Sugar Mound Arts and Crafts Festival starts its two-day run at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, and the show will continue until 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 11.

Both Fancion Shadden and Lorna Turley have said there a few if any spaces that have not been spoken for by artists and crafters. That means plenty of selection at the annual event that started small more than five decades ago and has grown larger ever since.

As many as two dozen food vendors will also be on hand to serve everything from funnel cakes, to Mexican fare to soup bowls.

Parking for the event at the fairgrounds just north of Mound City on Kansas Highway 7 begins filling up on Saturday morning before opening time at 9 a.m. However, school bus shuttles will again this year pickup shoppers at the Jayhawk-Linn High School parking lot a half mile west of Mound City on Kansas Highway 52 and deliver them to the fairgrounds. The shuttles will also run up and down Main Street in Mound City following the Sugar Mound parade, which begins at 10 a.m.

Shoppers will find a variety of arts, crafts and unusual gifts at the many venues during the festival in Mound City. (Journal file photo)

In a county that has many parades throughout the year, the Sugar Mound parade that signals the opening of the festival is the largest in Linn County. All three Linn County high school bands are expected to perform and other bands such as Uniontown have added their music to the parade as well.

The parade begins on Main Street at the Linn County Courthouse and moves west down Main Street toward the fairgrounds before ending.

Although the Sugar Mound festival is the main draw, there are other vendors along the way. The Jolly Market Boutique, which operates in the Jayhawk-Linn gym, is expecting 60 vendors this weekend. In addition to the Three Chicks and a Pony store that is packed with antiques and curios and other shops along the main drag, other venues will pop up including several vendors at the Mound City Historical Park at Sixth and Main streets.

The festival at the fairgrounds runs until 6 p.m on Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.