Sunflower Festival Returns to Colby This Weekend – Now Two Days of Fun!

Downtown Colby will be buzzing with activity this weekend as the annual Sunflower Festival takes over Fike Park on Friday, August 22, and Saturday, August 23. What started in 2018 as a grassroots idea to bring back community celebrations downtown has now grown into one of Colby’s biggest end-of-summer traditions.

NWKS Radio’s Kristina, who has been part of the festival since day one, joined Joel Navarro to share the story of how it all began.

“When I was growing up, downtown Colby always had big events—balloon festivals, sidewalk sales, car shows—but those just sort of disappeared over time,” Kristina said. “A few of us from the Colby Diplomats got together and thought, why not bring that energy back? We started with a couple of events like the steak cook-off and the brew fest, and it just took off from there.”

From that first year, the festival has continued to evolve. The car show, which wasn’t even meant to be a main attraction in 2018, drew so many vehicles that organizers had to open extra parking lots. It quickly became a staple event.

One unique feature of the Sunflower Festival is how it brings in different groups from the community. “Every event is run by a local organization,” Kristina explained. “The Rec Department handles the co-ed sand volleyball, the Diplomats and library help with the kids’ activities, the Ambassadors run the car show, and CrossFit Colby switched things up from a mini-triathlon to a color run. It’s truly a community-wide effort.”

And kids don’t need to bring a dime—festival organizers are committed to keeping all children’s activities free.

A Two-Day Festival

For the first time, the Sunflower Festival will stretch across two days instead of one long Saturday.

• Friday night (August 22):

  • Food trucks open

  • Co-Ed Sand Volleyball Tournament (pre-registration required)

  • Pickleball

  • Kids Cornhole

  • Adult Fun Cornhole

  • Street Dance with live music from Daniel Blake (courtesy of MC Entertainment)

  • Axe throwing and dunk tank

  • “Dragging Main” and car show registration

• Saturday (August 23):

  • Chamber breakfast from 7–9 a.m.

  • Booths on the Bricks downtown shopping and sales

  • Car show

  • Kids FREE fun with games, bounce houses, and water fun

  • Horseshoe tournament

  • Cornhole tournaments (competitive on Saturday, fun divisions on Friday night)

  • Color Run/Walk in the morning

  • Food trucks all day

  • The grand finale: the Hot Dog Eating Contest – where Colby crowns its own local “Joey Chestnut.”

  
  

(Last year, NWKS Radio’s Shane Timson gave it his best shot but only managed six or seven hot dogs—proof that this contest is tougher than it looks. This year, the hunt is on for a new station rep to take on the challenge.)

Celebrate Colby

Kristina summed up the spirit of the event perfectly: “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.”

To learn more about the Sunflower Festival, text the word SUNFLOWER to 785-460-0790 or visit sunflowerfestivalcolbyks.com