Here is how it begins each year....
Billboards in the neighboring towns.
September 4
All of the trash barrels.
September 7
The benches. The hot dog stand is in the background and this is the field where the fair is set up.
My school is right behind the hot dog stand in this picture.
Can you imagine how excited the kids get?
Here's the link to my blog from last year at this time...might as well use the excitement
when you are a teacher practically in the middle of the fairgrounds.
September 9
The street banners go up all over town.
September 16
Advertising the big concert.
September 16
One of the porta potty phalanxes arrive.
September 21
Setting up the commercial exhibits tent. One of many tents.
September 23
Ahh. The rides arrive.
September 24
More tents up and some of the trash barrels from earlier photo placed about.
September 24
More rides. See the benches and the field behind them all filled up now?
September 27
And tonight, they are having the rides open for the 1st time and they call it Suicide Night. Scary! But when I drove by tonight after serving buckwheat cakes at my church, it was full of people having fun.
I will take more pictures this weekend to show you how our sweet, sleepy little town of about 3000 swells to a raucus and rowdy 100,000 or so. Buckwheat Festival weather is deemed a success if it doesn't monsoon. They are predicting a possibility of snow and a high of 42 on Saturday. Can't wait to show you some more of my favorite festival! Stay tuned.
8 comments:
WOW! The weather!!! And the transformation!! And 100K people? REALLY? I think that would drive me crazy. And who cleans up after all of this, because in OUR town - which used to be under 25K (excluding the university) and now far bigger - the 4th of July parade provides a bumper crop of litter. I'm just too pragmatic. But how exciting - for kids and all. FOUR DAYS OFF? That's better than what we used to get in New York for Yom Kipper!!
Oh, man!! That sounds like so much fun!! I'll look forward to attending vicariously! blessing ~ tanna
Four days off of school? Really? Sounds like hunting season here. The schools don't shut down, but many local businesses do.
I REALLY want to try buckwheat cakes.
I have tried to reply to these comments for 3 days. Blogger kept eating them. Trying again.
***Kristen, I might feel differently about the whole thing if I didn't live within walking distance of all the festivities. The traffic and parking does get a bit hairy. We actually park our cars at the school so friends can use our driveway if they need to. The volunteer firemen are in charge of this whole shebang and it is really all cleaned up so that you would not even know it happened by next weekend.
***Tanna, I hope my pictures give you a real feel. I wish you could hear it and smell it all, too.
***WSW, not to worry. We get the week of Thanksgiving off for hunting too! Want me to send you a bag of buckwheat flour? It is grown and ground here.
Mmmmmmm. Buckwheat cakes. I wonder if I could find buckwheat flour somewhere around here. Maybe at the healthfood store. Sending a bag would be way too expensive! Okay, do the schools get the whole week off too????
I may have to switch careers and become a teacher, and relocate. And eat buckwheat cakes whenever I want to.
WSW, good news! I just found out today that most of the buckwheat used here comes from Canada! So, you might have luck....if not, let me know...maybe a little bag wouldn't be too much. And yes, the schools are closed the whole 1st week of hunting season! See? Good news all around.
Ha! Too funny, eh? I'm on it!
I'm sure we used to grow it all here, but good for you, now it's Canada! Let me know if you are successful!
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