Annual fall festival kicks off Tuesday

For more than 100 years, Concordia residents have marked the end of summer with an annual celebration.

Whether they call it the street fair or the fall festival, the event is a cornerstone of the community and the 2010 celebration will start Tuesday with the Queen Contest, held at 7 p.m. at Concordia High School.

The festival's carnival opens Wednesday with a wristband night from 6 to 10 p.m. and runs through Saturday.

Thursday's events start at 6:30 p.m. with a commemoration of the 23rd annual veterans' night. To mark the occasion, the VFW and American Legion will present colors and fire salute. This will be followed by the kids parade with the judging of the beard contest at 7:30 p.m. The first presentation of the sesquicentennial pageant will be held at 8 p.m.

Friday's activities get started early with the baby health contest at 8:30 a.m. The event runs through 3:45 p.m. For more information, see the related article on page 2 of this edition. Children are also invited to take part in the "kids country contests" at 1:30 p.m.

Offering more adult-oriented entertainment, the Concordia Comical Crew parade concludes the evening's offerings. The parade starts at 8 p.m.

Saturday offers something for everyone with activities scheduled to run over a 12-hour period.

The Concordia Civic Club Men's Slow Pitch Softball starts at 8 a.m. and the pie baking contest runs from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

The livestock show gets underway at 9 a.m. and the presentation of baby health contest awards are scheduled for 10:30 a.m.

The children's pedal tractor pull will take place at 11 a.m. and a final wristband event will take place at the carnival from 1 to 5 p.m.

Following a presentation by the Super Starz Dance Troupe at 5:30 p.m., the religious and decorated floats parade will begin at 6:15 p.m.

Results of the pie baking contest will be announced and an auction of the entries will be held at 7:30 p.m. prior to the start of the second presentation of the Sesquicentennial Pageant at 8 p.m.

A prize drawing will be held following the presentation.

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