Halloween Festival Fun in Independence, Kansas

Every year we have a grand festival known as Neewollah. It's not a small festival; it's one where people from all over the United States come to enjoy. As a matter of fact, every hotel is booked nearly a year in advance due to Neewollah. So what is Neewollah really all about and why does this festival attract so many visitors?

After a bad experience with vandalism and trick or treating in 1918, Independence, Kansas came up with the wonderful idea of a town festival which they named, Neewollah. Neewollah began as a one-day event that consisted of a rodeo, parade and a Neewollah Queen. To make the festival even more fun, the city asked local merchants to contribute in some way to the Halloween festival. Even during it's first few years; Neewollah was a hit, attracting visitors from all over Kansas and even some parts of Oklahoma. The Nominees for queen (high school girls) sold tickets to the rodeo and the candidate who sold the most tickets was crowned Queen of the Neewollah Festival.

Due to the hit success of the very first Neewollah Festival, Queens were sponsored from as far as Missouri. By 1925 Neewollah expanded its festival with a two-day rodeo and added a second parade that consisted of lights attached to the floats for a nighttime show. By then, over 60 nominees from all over were in the running for Queen.

Unfortunately not long after, the great depression began and the Neewollah festival came to a halt. In 1958 however, three local businessmen got together and decided to bring Neewollah alive once again. This time however, live music shows and street acts were added to the festivities. It was during this time that country music star Roy Clark got his start by playing at the Neewollah Festival.

By 1959 the city of Independence, Kansas decided they wanted something more added to the Neewollah Festival. So, they enlisted in the help of local high school speech teacher, Margaret Goheen to direct local playwright William Inge's hit play, "Picnic." The play was a huge sold-out success. It was also then that the local businessmen decided to include a kiddie parade to the already well recieved festival. The kiddie parade became an instant hit, allowing children to show off their favorite halloween costumes and march up and down the street in front of onlookers from all over.

By 1960 a Missouri carnival that happened to be passing through realized the success of Neewollah and asked to be allowed to set up for the festival events. By now the festival had extended to a 4-day event and to add to the celebration, the town decided to add a musical play to their events. But, it wasn't just any musical play that they added. It was the musical play, "Oklahoma." Yet by 1961, Neewollah had produced, "Annie Get Your Gun" and by 1962, "The Music Man."

By 1973 however, people began losing interest in Neewollah and by 1977 due to lack of funds, it came to a halt once again. It wasn't until 1979 that a change of events would make Neewollah a hit forever. The first being, food vendors. Prior Independence, Kansas had refused to allow food vendors to participate in the festivities. Next, the city decided to include a band competition allowing area high school bands to compete for trophies and prizes. Neewollah also continued the carnival rides and added music acts like The Oakridge Boys, Reba McIntire, and Ray Price to their festivities.

Likely Page BreakThen, in 1997 the city added the Medallion Hunt. Similar to a treasure hunt, a medallion is hidden in the city for participants to find. Clues are then released each week until someone finds the medallion. The winner of the medallion receives a cash prize of $500. The catch however is, the winner must be wearing a neewollah button in order to claim the full $500 cash prize. The buttons are easy to obtain however and can be found at the city's chamber of commerce office.

Today Independence, Kansas's Neewollah has become even bigger and better than ever. Musical acts have expanded from country to rock with such bands as REO Speedwagon, Three Dog Night and even some terrific local talent.

This year's big show will consist of country music sensation Terri Clark. The event will be free as a thank you to the local community for supporting Neewollah for over 50 years. All the fun begins, October 17^th-25^th of 2008.