Iola’s Farm-City Days celebration will be without a carnival this year.
Jerad Larkey, Farm-City Days Committee chairman, said Fun Time Carnivals, which has brought rides to Iola the past several years, notified him that they would be unable to do so in 2023.
The last-minute notification makes it impossible to find a replacement, Larkey noted, with most carnivals booked 18 months to two years in advance.
“There are fewer and fewer options out there,” Larkey said. “The one we used before this company has gone out of business entirely.”
Fuel costs and an inability to find workers have meant fewer carnivals throughout the Midwest, Larkey noted.
“The few carnivals that do still exist have to shut down early and not do as many shows,” he added.
The cancellation means a truncated schedule as well.
The festivities will commence in downtown Iola the evening of Friday, Oct. 20, with a community dinner sponsored by Allen County Farm Bureau.
Trevor Holman and the Haymakers, a regional music group that played at this year’s Cornstock in Garnett and at the Kincaid Free Fair, will provide the music for a street dance, from 5 to 9 p.m.
Larkey said that Chelsea Lea, of Miss Chelsea’s Dance Academy, is organizing several kids games to keep youngsters occupied through the evening, with such activities as sack races, balloon and egg tosses and the sort.
With those added activities, Larkey said the committee may need extra volunteers.
“Anybody willing to help out would be great,” he said.
Larkey also hopes to get additional inflatables for the square the next day to go with the ones already planned, including those geared to older children.
The Saturday activities will open with a Russell Stover “Fun Rover” race at 8 a.m.
The popular car show will return, and if the weather is as dry as it has been, the hot rods will be parked on the courthouse lawn. (Otherwise, they’ll be parked along Washington Avenue and West Street.)
