Location changes for some events have been made this year for the Tatanka Festival and White Cloud's Birthday Celebration, which runs Thursday through Sunday in Jamestown. Organizers hope they work out well.
Parade watchers standing on First Avenue this year at 10 a.m. Saturday will miss the show. Breaking with tradition, the parade route will be on 10th Street Southeast. The parade will start at the Second Avenue McElroy Park entrance and travel 10th Street to Ninth Avenue Southeast. Instead of ending, however, the parade will turn around and continue back down 10th Street to McElroy Park. Parade watchers will be able to see the parade going and then returning and participants in it can also see something of the parade. Bob Lulay, parade organizer for the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce, said 10th Street is wide enough to accommodate the change.
It was Lulay's idea to give the parade a nontraditional route. He said he'd wanted to get the parade off First Avenue due to the problems it creates in delaying trains, traffic, downtown delivery trucks and travelers for a couple of hours.
"Having it on 10th Street doesn't interfere with anything," Lulay said. "We thought we'd try something a little different. We'll see how it works out."
Felicia Sargeant, National Buffalo Museum director, said 10th Street has another advantage. No parking is allowed on either side of the street.
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"We won't have to worry about kids running out for candy between parked cars," Sargeant said. "That's going to be a huge thing."
The Jamestown Parks and Rec Orriginals White Cloud 5K Run/Walk will again lead off the parade. The runners will finish the race at the Frontier Village gates.
Another change this year is that most everything normally held Saturday in McElroy Park is at Frontier Village.
"With all the well work there (in the park), we were afraid we'd just do more damage," Sargeant said about the reason for the change. Work is just being completed on the city's five new wells in McElroy Park.
Crafters and food vendors will be set up outside the gates to the village. Parks and Rec will supply tables, trash cans and everything else needed for the venue change. The Jamestown Classic Car Club Buffalo Rally's classic and antique vehicles will be parked throughout the village. Lulay, who is also a member of the car club, said drivers come from all over the region to participate in the rally. Last year, there were more than 125 cars in the event.
"Between 60 and 70 percent are from out of town," he said.
Once the cars are parked, club members will help with visitor parking at Frontier Fort and the former Emter Dinner Theater lots. Visitors will also be able to park in the amphitheater parking lot down the hill by the stage.
"There will be no drive-through traffic in the village," Sargeant said. "We'll be running shuttles from the parking areas into the village. And we'll have golf carts to drive people with special needs around inside the village."
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Entertainment during the festival kicks off at 7 p.m. Thursday with the North Dakota Home Grown Talent Contest, featuring Seth Mulder: Singing Fiddler and his Grandfather, and singer/guitar player Bryan Loweree, which is free. Then on Friday, while registration for the Buffalo Rally takes place at the Stutsman County Museum's Lutz Mansion, Denise B will perform a piano recital at the Arts Center. She'll be distributing free sheet music to her guests. Tickets are available at the Buffalo Museum and the Arts Center.
"We'd love to have all the piano teachers attend with their students," Sargeant said.
Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. the Shadow Creek Band will play at the Frontier Village amphitheater and at 7 Saturday evening the Kid Fiddlers, a family band from Salt Lake City, will play there. Band members are ages 5 to 16.
"They clog, sing and play many different instruments," she said. "They sent a demo tape and are very good. There's no admission charge, but a freewill offering will be taken."
New events during the festival are the Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors Dunking Shower Saturday in the village. It's a fundraiser. Sargeant said it's similar to the dunking tank idea in that you throw a ball to set it off.
"But you sit in a chair and get a nice shower out of it," she said. "We're looking for people to be dunkees."
The Jamestown Soccer Federation Duck Race is also on Saturday. Plastic ducks can be adopted for $5 at the federation booth in Frontier Village for the race starting at 1 p.m. on the James River in McElroy Park.
"That should be fun for everyone," she said. "We'll want to get people to the Vets Bridge for the finale."
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An Auto Cross Competition at the Civic Center parking lot is Sunday's all-day event. Lulay said it's an interesting experience and first occurred at last year's festival.
"It's very unusual and fun to watch," he said. "And it sounds really, really good this year."
A schedule of all the events is available at the Buffalo Museum, the Buffalo City Tourism office, the CSi Web site and the museum Web site. Sargeant said she's pleased at the addition of events and venues.
"We're trying to make this a city-wide event," she said.
Sun reporter Toni Pirkl can be reached at (701) 952-8453 or by e-mail at tonip@jamestownsun.com
