By SALINA POST
The 200 block of W. Iron Avenue was beginning to look festive Friday as workers prepared for Saturday's Smoky Hill Museum Street Fair.
While the majority of the activities will be in and around the Smoky Hill Musuem, 211 W. Iron Avenue, the event will kick off with a parade down nearby Santa Fe Avenue beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday. The parade is scheduled to begin at N. Elm Street and head south on Santa Fe Avenue to The Temple at S. Santa Fe Avenue and W. South Street.
Activities will then shift the the area around the museum, where Old West re-enactors will be roaming the street fair throughout the day, in keeping with this year's Old West theme. Other activities will include horseshoe tossing, roping, archery, blacksmithing, free crafts to-go, caricaturists, and Color Me Crazy airbrush tattoos. See the full schedule below.
For $2, you can sample chili from six booths and vote for your favorite between noon and 1:30 p.m. The People’s Choice award and best decorated booth winners will be announced at 2 p.m. on the main stage.
Additionally, the museum gallery will be open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. for everyone to enjoy the special exhibit, The Crossroads. In addition, there is the popular hands-on, interactive exhibit, The Curiosity Shop. For safety purposes, free timed-tickets will be handed out that day on the museum landing for entry into the museum, allowing no more than 25 people in every 20 minutes.
With the new guidelines from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment about mass gatherings of 500 or more people, museum staff has identified and implemented several changes to minimize risk to attendees without creating a highly restrictive atmosphere, according to information from the museum. It is strongly encouraged that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, practice social distancing and mask wearing.
Following is the schedule of events and entertainment for the 2021 Smoky Hill Museum Street Fair, according to the museum's website Friday night.
1-10:45 a.m. Parade on Santa Fe from Elm to Masonic Temple
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Food vendors open
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Museum gallery and store open
11 a.m.-4 p.m. Old West activities
●Crafts To-Go
●Historic re-enactors
●Color Me Crazy! Airbrush Tattoos
●Caricaturists
Noon-1:30 p.m. Chili Cook-off public tasting and voting
2 p.m. Announcement of Chili Cook-off winner
Old West entertainment
11 a.m. Blue & Gray Brass
Noon Jeff Davidson
1 p.m. Serenity Stringband
2:15 p.m. Kitty Hamilton as Kittie Hays of the Santa Fe Road
3 p.m. Blue & Gray Brass