The Early Chamber of Commerce cut a ribbon and unveiled plans Wednesday for their upcoming Early Pioneer Days Festival set for October 18-20th.
This first year event will be all about the good old days of pioneer times and will hopefully be the city of Early’s new signature event.
“We have been looking for a few years for an event for Early to highlight,” said event chairperson Gina Jameson. “We want this to help Early create its own footprint.”
The three day festival is set to include food, music, competitions, and family fun, but organizers said that the event will also be an educational opportunity for attendees to learn about the pioneer days.
“We want this to be an educational, fun family filled weekend, and Early was founded on education,” Jameson said. “Mr. Early donated the land for the schools here and it is a major emphasis for the community and so we want to continue that through this program.”Jameson said that the festival will feature a variety of competitions such as horse shoe pitching, sack races, three-legged races and more. “And anything else we can come up with that would be like an old county fair feeling,” she said.
The tentative schedule shows that campfires, storytelling, hayrides, and demonstrations will also be a big part of the festival.
“We are going to have demonstrations for families to participate in, and we are planning a street dance on Saturday night with Billy Mata,” Jameson said. “Early school kids are also encouraged to enter the t-shirt design contest as well.”
Organizers said that the event will be held on the available land around the Early Incubator and offices of the Early Chamber of Commerce. Suggestions and volunteers are welcome to help make the event even better.
“We are looking for more volunteers to help out as well,” Jameson said. “This is going to be a community event and we hope to be an annual event.”
The event website, EarlyPioneerDays.com, was also unveiled which will feature more information about the event as well as vendor and competition applications when they become available.
Early Mayor Bob Mangrum, the Early Pioneer Days committee, city officials, and Early Chamber staff and board members cut a ribbon Wednesday to commemorate the official kickoff for the event (pictured above). For more information about Early Pioneer Days or how to volunteer, call the Early Chamber of Commerce at 325-649-9300.
