The Wheat Festival by Paige Kolweier
My favorite event in Okawville, Illinois is The Wheat Festival. The Wheat Festival comes around once a year in the fall. It lasts only three days, September 14th, 15th, and 16th. On Friday the 14th, there is a beauty pageant at the Okawville Grade School for girls to try and win Miss Okawville and Little Miss Okawville. The Wheat Festival is open for all ages. No matter how young or old you may be, I can assure you will have an amazing time there. The Wheat Festival is like a small-town fair with rides and other fun activities during the day. It is open on Friday, but the activities don’t start until Saturday. The rides don’t open until around 6:00 P.M., but there are other things to keep you busy until then.
If you like to do arts and crafts, you can make something cool and bring it in for a chance to win prizes for your work. If you aren’t into art, there is a talent show you can participate in. You can sing, dance, play an instrument, or many other things in front of a crowd for another chance to win prizes. If you’re older and don’t like rides anymore, don’t worry, there are activities for you as well! You can participate in a washer or bags tournament that goes on all day. So, you can send your kids off to go be kids and play around while you can talk to your friends and family, while participating in the tournament. If you’re a kid, there are many different things for you to do besides riding rides. For younger kids there is a corn pit they can play around in without worrying about them getting really messy like they would in a sand pit. There is a small playground that is open for kids to come and play on with others!
They have a variety of delicious foods to choose from for lunch. The food is served under a pavilion with lots of space so it can fit a lot of hungry people. After lunch there are dessert stands all around the park. You can find ice cream, pie, cotton candy, snow cones, and many other yummy treats. There is music playing throughout the day so you can talk with everyone or listen to great music. This is a great place to sit and talk with your friends. Sometimes you will see old friends that you might not have seen in a long time. There is a lady dressed up like a clown that makes balloon animals for the kids for free.
When the rides are finally ready for all the kids, there are two ways to get on them. You can buy tickets or a wristband. If you choose tickets, then you buy however many you want and each ride takes about three to four tickets each time you ride. If you get a wristband, you can ride on any ride as many times as you want. Not only are there rides but there are games that have stuffed animals, blow up animals, rubber balls, and posters that you can choose from. If you get hungry while riding rides, there are snack stands that have corn dogs, funnel cakes, lemonade shake-ups, and many other snacks. The rides close around nine or ten o’clock, but you still have the next day to ride more rides.
On Sunday, there is a parade before the rides and games open that has many different floats. Some of the floats are the Okawville Jr High and High School Band, Little Miss Okawville and Miss Okawville, the 4-H Club, the National Bank, The Fire Department and many others. At most fairs it would be dangerous to let your kids go out on their own, but Okawville is such a safe town there is no reason to be nervous about them. These are the many, many reasons why I love the Okawville Wheat Festival.