The roots of this weekend’s Prairie Chicken Arts Festival go back to the Walldogs who held their annual week-long meet up in Kewanee in the summer of 2013 and painted 15 murals depicting Kewanee history on the sides of downtown buildings.
The following year, the local organizers decided to make the successful event into an annual mid-summer attraction called the Prairie Chicken Festival.
It would be dedicated to “the celebration of artistic talents in and around Kewanee,” and the continued promotion of public art, such as the murals. The Rotary Club pitched in by donating a portion of the proceeds from their annual Quarter Madness fundraiser to the festival, with that partnership continuing today.
Kewanee is said to be the Winnebago word meaning prairie chicken, a bird once found in large numbers in this area. Prairie Chicken was also the name of a popular beer brewed in Kewanee in the early 1900s, with the slogan “The beer that makes the smile that won’t come off.” Over the years, organizers have endeavored to provide a mid-summer festival that also “makes a smile that won’t come off.”
The first Prairie Chicken Festival, held in 2014, included a color fun run, a car show, and a new mural honoring Kewanee native and film legend Neville Brand.
No celebration was held in 2015, but in September of that year, a group of volunteers met to make plans for 2016 which would expand the event to include sidewalk chalk art competition and, for one year, the name was changed to the Prairie Chicken Chalk Art Festival. The weekend featured chalk art competitors on an old go-kart track on West Third Street, as well as 3-D works by champion chalk artist Shaun Hayes of Chicago.
From the start the festival has focused on activities for kids, including face painting, a magic show, duck pond, pedal karts, a balloon artist and a huge sand pile. A craft and flea market and the Guns & Hoses pancake breakfast, hosted by the Kewanee police and fire departments, are now annual events.
Vendors will be located north of the go cart track and the pancake breakfast will be in the Johnson Appliance parking lot at the corner of North Chestnut and West First streets. The annual art show will be open to the public from 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday at New View Furniture, 117 W. Second St.
Artwork by over 1,000 students from eight local schools is already on display in the windows of downtown stores.
Food stands, kids activities and the Farmer’s Market will be set up in and near Berrien Park at Third and Tremont streets.
This year’s festival will also feature a free Swiftie Party for Taylor Swift fans from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 19, in the Rotary Tent on West Third Street. DJ Lorna Stoner will play music from each of Swift’s eras and attendees are encouraged to dress in attire from their favorite Taylor Swift era, or as their favorite Kansas City Chiefs player.
The Community Band and Jazz on the Side will perform in the Rotary Tent from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 20.
Tim Bryner’s Chainsaw Carvings will also be doing demonstrations.
The Kewanee Historical Society Museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.
The PCAF Committee is encouraging attendees to patronize the restaurants which are in the midst of the festival, including Cerno’s, Phat Boys BBQ, Co Co’s, Fernando’s and Downtown Eatery & Bakery.
In 2020 the Prairie Chicken Festival officially changed its name to Prairie Chicken Arts Festival. In addition to Brand, five new murals have been added to the collection since 2013. In addition to Neville Brand, they feature Walter T. Bailey, the Ballhawks, the Black Knights and Walworth.
For up-to-date information on this weekend’s festival, visit the festival’s Facebook page.
