The Old West Fest :: AND A Giveaway

Grab your boots and your cowboy hats!

The ELEVENTH annual Old West Festival is back in town!  It promises to transport visitors back in time to an authentic Dodge City Wild West town circa 1878!  They have  trick roping, trick whips, gun-spinning, gunfights, saloon shows, melodramas, stunt comedy shows, live music and more!

It’s open six weekends, beginning the weekend after Labor Day, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM only. This year’s event runs from September 8 – October 14.

In addition to five hours of live action stunt, comedy and stage shows each day, there are also established theme weekends.  You know I love a theme!!!

Here are the 2018 theme weekends.  Please visit the website to learn more about each weekend.

Family Weekend (9/8-9/9)

Heroes Weekend (9/15-9/16)

Americas Pastime Weekend (9/22-9/23)

Romance Weekend (9/29-9/30)

Women of the West Weekend (10/6-10/7)

Halloween Weekend (10/13-10/14)

 There are lots of new features added this year, including a new historically educational Bass Reeves arena show and an Escape Room.

A new arena show featuring Mickey Gaines as legendary Bass Reeves. Born to slave parents in 1838 in Crawford County, Arkansas, Reeves was the first black U.S. Deputy Marshal west of the Mississippi River, and one of the greatest frontier heroes in our nation’s history. This show will be part history lesson, part crowd interaction and a whole lot of fancy and fast riding for the whole family to enjoy!  YES!!  Learning on the weekends.  Homeschool mama’s dream come true!

The Festival will also introduce a new Escape Room that will provide clues for players to crack a safe, elude the Sheriff and pull off a heist or walk to the gallows! My kids are going to love this!

(The Escape Room ticket cost is $50 for one group of 2-8 people, and sold separately from general admission tickets.)

The Old West Festival bringing the wild west to life for 6 weekends!

This old west town has everything you would expect to see in a real western town if you stepped back in time.  You will enjoy gun fights, awesome root beer, saloon shows, gunfights, jailbreaks, trick shooting and more!!  There are period interpreters in the streets performing the rolls of cowboys, storeowners, residents and outlaws!!

My kids LOVE it.  We’ve been a few times and can’t wait for this year, too.

At 10:15 daily the kids can get sworn in as deputies and enjoy old-timey puppet and magic shows.

You can get a warrant and have the sheriff put the kids or hubs in jail.  Awesome!  This will be happening again!

There are sing-a-longs and story times and historic games.  They can take a train ride, pony ride and a covered wagon ride!   They can even pan for gold!

They can learn a little 3 card Monty.

Or learn some new skills.

Good old-fashioned family fun!  I can’t wait.