ARMOUR -- Armour hosted its eighth annual Prairie Festival this weekend, and the event’s director called the event “a big thank you to the town.”
Held Saturday in Lions Park, on Main Avenue and at Sunset Speedway, the festival hosted activities for all ages, boasted Nicole Neugebauer, the festival’s director.
“We have everything from a bean bag tournament, rib cookoff, car show, community bingo, a 5k fun run, shop vendors, rummage sales, 3-on-3 basketball and karaoke,” Neugebauer said.
The event, which dates back to 2011, is a large community project, Neugebauer said, but the work put in definitely paid off.
“It’s really awesome seeing a full campground of people. The community really supports it,” Neugebauer said.
ADVERTISEMENT
This year’s festival included multiple fundraising projects. The rib cookoff Saturday raised funds for the Douglas County Ambulance service in Armour, of which Neugebauer is also the director.
Additionally, the bean bag tournament at this year’s Prairie Festival was headed by Armour High School’s junior class in efforts to raise for an after prom party, and the 5K fun run and inflatables raised money for the community, as well.
Work on the event gets started around March each year, with configuration for the event really taking off in June, when weekly meetings are held to make sure everything runs smoothly at the festival.
Businesses within the community provide sponsorship money to keep the event alive, and Neugebauer said the six-person festival committee that runs the event will continue to work on providing new entertainment and ideas to improve the festival for the future.
She said the committee welcomes newcomers to come help support the community-wide event, and she hopes to keep up the Prairie Festival as a community tradition for many years to come
“I really love having all the community members come out,” Neugebauer said. “... A lot of people come back from all over for this.