EdgarFest will return June 26 and 27 with two days of food, entertainment, family activities, music, fireworks, and community events centered around this year’s patriotic theme, “Celebrate America’s 250th Birthday.”
For many small towns, summer festivals serve as more than just entertainment. They become reunions, traditions, and opportunities for communities to gather together. EdgarFest continues to be one of those events, bringing residents, former residents, neighboring communities, and visitors together for a full weekend of activities throughout town.
Founded in the early 1870s, Edgar remains one of the communities in southern Clay County where volunteerism and local involvement continue to play a major role in community events. Organizations, churches, businesses, and volunteers all contribute to making the annual festival possible.
This year’s celebration begins Friday, June 26, with the opening of the beer garden at The Bar Next Door at 4 p.m. Pit Bull Catering will serve food on Main Street from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Karaoke in the beer garden is scheduled from 8:30 p.m. until 12:30 a.m., while the Edgar Centennial Pool will host a Night Splash from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Saturday’s activities begin with Bloody Marys and mimosas from 9 to 11 a.m., followed by a full day of events taking place across the community.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., activities at City Hall Park and the Community Building will include bounce houses, face painting, donkey rides with Prairie Burro Co., snow cones, root beer floats, sweet drinks, food vendors, and children’s activities.
Additional events throughout the day include a bake sale hosted by Church of the Plains, a Lions pancake feed, Legion Auxiliary bingo, balloon animals at the pool park, funnel cakes, cotton candy, and a free watermelon feed sponsored by Edgar Christian Church and Corner Market.
The Edgar Centennial Pool will also be open from 1 to 5 p.m.
Saturday evening activities include the Fireman’s Pork Chop Meal and a meet-andgreet with Cristhian Gabriel from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
The EdgarFest Parade, themed “America Turning 250,” begins at 8 p.m. on 5th Street, with parade lineup beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Sugar Shack. Cristhian Gabriel will serve as grand marshal.
Following the parade, the fire department’s gun raffle drawing will take place before fireworks begin at dark near the fire hall.
The weekend celebration concludes with music from the Dirty Boots Band and the beer garden on Main Street from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m.
Organizers say EdgarFest continues to celebrate the traditions that make smalltown events special, combining food, entertainment, community organizations, local volunteers, and family activities into a weekend designed to bring people together.
