The Kalona Fall Festival is making its way back on the scene after taking a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This year’s festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, September 24th and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, September 25th. A full line-up of live music is scheduled to take the stage from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturday with performances by the Mid-Prairie High School and Hillcrest Academy bands. Pony rides, Tractorcade, bags tournament, talent show and more will be available for all participants to enjoy. Kalona Historical Village Managing Director Nancy Roth shares her excitement for having the festival back this year, “We’re so happy to be back this year after last year’s episode, as you would say. So we’re hoping people are looking forward to coming back for the great food and the entertainment and all of the different activities we have going on because we do try to meet the needs of every member of the family with different fun and exciting things to do.”

Admission to the festival is $6 for adults, $3 for kids 5 to 12 and free for children four and under. Roth reminds residents that this is a fundraiser event for the Kalona Mennonite Museum and Historical Village and all proceeds will go towards maintaining exhibits and buildings. All exhibits in the historical village will be open to the public and local historian Mike Zahs will be giving a guided tour of the “History in a Cloth Bag” exhibit at 1 p.m. Friday and 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Those wanting to participate in the Tractorcade, bags tournament and talent show need to sign-up ahead of time. Volunteers are also needed for the weekend to help watch entry gates and building entries.  For more information on how to sign up or volunteer, visit here.