Sunflower Festival Brings Two Days of Fun to Downtown Colby

Downtown Colby was buzzing this past weekend as the Sunflower Festival lit up Fike Park for not just one-but two days of food, music, games, and community fun. What started back in 2018 as a small grassroots idea has now grown into one of Colby’s favorite end-of-summer traditions, and this year’s expanded schedule proved that bigger really can be better.

Perfect Summer Weather (Almost)

Forecasts all week had threatened storms, but the weather played nice for most of the festival. Friday night was humid but gorgeous in the 80s, and families packed the park for food trucks, games, and music from MC Entertainment. Storms rolled in toward the very end of the street dance, forcing things to wrap up about 30 minutes early-but not before plenty of dancing, glow sticks, and kids showing off their best line-dancing moves. Saturday morning started with rain, but by 7 a.m. it had cleared, leaving a comfortable mix of sun and clouds in the 70s for a perfect festival day.

Friday Highlights

Friday kicked off with co-ed sand volleyball (four teams hit the beautiful sand courts), pickleball, and kids’ cornhole—which turned into a huge hit. The dunk tank, hosted by Play 315 as a fundraiser for their playground project, was another fan favorite. Local teachers bravely took the hot seat, and kids lined up to send them splashing down.

As the sun went down, the community gathered for the free street dance, featuring

music from DJ Daniel Blake. The energy was contagious as families danced under the lights of Fike Park. Meanwhile, car enthusiasts “dragged Main” before registering for Saturday’s big show.

Saturday Fun

The Colby Chamber of Commerce fueled the morning with a delicious pancake and sausage breakfast under the gazebo. Volunteers flipped flapjacks on Blackstone griddles, and the smell alone was enough to bring in a crowd. Not long after, participants took off in the Color Run/Walk, finishing the morning splattered in bright bursts of color.

The car show rolled into its new location around Fike Park and drew around 65 entries, including the popular PeeWee division for the youngest car lovers. South Franklin Avenue filled with nearly 30 local vendors for “Booths on the Bricks,” while downtown businesses opened their doors with sales and specials.

Kids ruled the north end of the park with bounce houses, yard games, face painting, and more-all completely free, thanks to the festival’s commitment to keeping children’s activities accessible for every family.

Meanwhile, the grown-ups battled it out in horseshoes, competitive cornhole, and

pickleball. Food trucks stayed busy all day, serving up favorites to hungry festival-goers. Twisted, Wrapped, and Rolled (one of the food truck vendors) said on their Facebook page: "We brought 3 events worth of food to sell and gone in a day in a half 1000 egg rolls plus 600 pcs of crab Rangoons, 1000 of pork bbq and yakitori sold out, 3 big containers of teriyaki, chicken fries, yakisoba and a loads of boba! What else can we asked for?"

The grand finale was the always-anticipated hot dog eating contest. Both the kids’ and adult winners chowed down an impressive nine hot dogs (buns included!) in just five minutes....with only one glass of water to wash them down!!!

A Community Celebration

From the dunk tank splashes to the pancake breakfasts, from kids’ laughter in the bounce houses to glow-stick dancing under the stars, this year’s Sunflower Festival captured everything Colby loves about coming together as a community.

Moving from a one-day to a two-day format was a big change, but the turnout proved it was the right move. Attendance was strong both days, and local groups were able to raise funds while providing fun activities for all ages.

As NWKS Radio’s Kristina—who’s been part of the festival since the beginning—said, “It’s

really about celebrating Colby’s downtown, coming together as a community, and giving local groups a chance to raise funds while having fun. Fike Park is beautiful this time of year, and it’s the perfect spot for families to enjoy the last weekend of summer.”

NWKS Radio's Rolling Radio was down there on Saturday playing the tunes and making announcements and having a blast!

Colby showed up, showed out, and celebrated big. The Sunflower Festival has once again proven itself to be one of the highlights of summer in Northwest Kansas.