The annual fall festival centered around all things Wizard of Oz is OZtoberFest and it was held October 2nd and 3rd in Wamego, Kansas. Wamego (pronounced Wah-me-go or Wah-may-go, depending on who you are) is a growing town full of young families. They pride themselves on their “Oz Museum” full of collectible Wizard of Oz memorabilia and the Columbian Theater – a place where art, live shows and dinner mix into a captivating event.
Lots of small towns have Fall Festivals with parades, local talent on a stage and small businesses/local organizations set up tents and tables. But how many small towns center everything around Oz?
There was a Wizard of Oz parade at 9:15am but we all slept in and missed the parade. However, we did arrive in time to snag a picture with the cast of the Columbian Theater’s stage production! I had just shown Lizzie a few Wizard of Oz clips on YouTube about an hour before we went to the festival, so when she saw the characters she was a mixture of star struck and really freaked out! This is the best photo we took.
After strolling up and down the streets a bit Lizzie just had to get into the bounce house! It was getting her away from there that was the trick. And yes, she did skip her nap that day – how does she do it? This girl will keep on going until her energy tank is passed empty. One day she will realize how fun it is to sleep.
Bouncing sure increased her appetite! So we crossed the street to what I like to call “fair food lane.” We ordered a grilled ear of corn, 2 fresh squeezed lemonades (one of which she squeezed right in front of me, totally fresh and YUMMY!) and a ginormous funnel cake. You cannot pass up the funnel cake! After eating my corn and drinking my lemonade I couldn’t eat the funnel cake though, I was so disappointed.
It was a really fun time – you can tell on his face! I try not to miss OzToberFest whenever it happens and I am so glad somebody went with us this year! Maybe next year I will dress Lizzie up like Dorothy, I saw a lot of little girls dressed in Dorothy dresses and it was so cute!
They are currently raising money to buy yellow bricks so they can pave a portion of downtown in a “yellow brick road.” I am not kidding! Wamego loves the Wizard of Oz and I am proud to claim this movie as my own as well.
but the story took place in liberal kansas. gezzzz
What a neat festival! My mom loves the Wizard of Oz so she would think this was so neat. The yellow brick road idea is great too – that would be cool to see!
How cool is that? I would love to be able to go to something like this – I really need to explore my own state more!