BY CORIE LYNN
Summer is still months away, but Hays is already planning for the festivities the months of June and July bring. Namely, the Wild West Festival.
This music festival may not take place until the summer, but the festival’s committee is hard at work preparing and fundraising for the event.
“It’s just an opportunity to bring quality entertainment at a reasonable price,” said Jeff Ridgeway, co-president of the Wild West Festival Committee. By bringing this festival to Hays, he explained, they’re providing something for the region that families would normally have to travel to find.
Performers for this year’s festival include Michael Ray, Restless Heart and Shenandoah, and FireHouse. Ridgeway explained that bringing in groups such as these do more for Hays than provide summer entertainment.
“As business opportunities, the city and community benefit from the clientele [Wild West Festival brings in],” he said.
Present preparations for the festival involve fundraising, including asking for sponsorship and hosting a dinner on Feb. 22.
According to Melissa Dixon, Executive Director of the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau, the upcoming fundraiser, beginning at 5 p.m, will include a roast dinner, social hour, silent auction, 50/50 raffle and music by local band DoC.
Dixon noted that the festival committee is made up of volunteers and is non-profit, serving a “fantastic event [which] brings people to Hays for not one but three days of concerts.”
The committee, in Ridgeway’s words, wants “to continue to provide the best entertainment.” The fundraiser dinner is one way, besides sponsorship packages or buying tickets this summer, that people can help support that mission.
February’s dinner will be held in the Schenk building on the Ellis County Fair Grounds. Tickets are available through the Hays Welcome Center or Wild West Festival Committee members.
More information about Wild West Festival and its fundraiser can be found on their Facebook page.