It’s festival season.

We recently enjoyed Fort Harker Days in Kanopolis. Then we celebrated the After Harvest Czech Festival in Wilson. Now, we’re gearing up for Cowtown Days here in Ellsworth.

Fort Harker Days and the Czech Fest were both packed. We hope the same is a reality for the signature event hosted in our county seat.

The Kanopolis and Wilson events have long histories, and for attendees who show up for the fun, it seems like a well-oiled machine. Yet anyone who has thrown a wedding — heck, even helped with a wedding — knows any large-scale event involves many hands, much work and probably more than a few missteps.

A group of residents banded together to reimagine the beloved Cowtown Days.

Will it look the “same as it always did?” No. Is that OK? Absolutely. Sometimes it can be hard to see and experience change, but the reality is that we have to keep growing and evolving, or else we will become irrelevant.

While the 2023 pause of the formal Cowtown Days festivities was indeed disappointing, we are excited to see the upcoming weekend’s events.

Did organizers hit the mark every step of the way? No. But we shouldn’t expect them to. We need to allow volunteers who are willing to step up and shoulder an event the space to experiment. To try new things. To see what works. To see what doesn’t.

Not everything has to work, but we commend the effort TO make it work.

In this week’s paper, you’ll find our B-section is filled with information relating to the Aug. 2-4 Cowtown Days event.

There are a plethora of ways to enjoy and experience the event. It can be as simple as strolling downtown Saturday morning, sipping lemonade and enjoying some of our local shopping. Maybe it’s letting the kids stay up late Friday night, put on their favorite costume and attend the movie in the park. Or letting the kids experience the fly-in at the airport Saturday morning. Or having a family evening out at the concert Saturday night.

The bottom line is many hours have culminated in this weekend’s event. We encourage you to take advantage of some hometown fun. Karen Bonar Publisher