The Buffalo Days festival is an incredible opportunity for residents to actively engage in the Jamestown community.
Though the annual festivities shed White Cloud from the name en route to the former title of Buffalo Days, the event will continue to remind Jamestown of the beloved albino buffalo that will live on forever in the city. Currently stuffed and on display at the National Buffalo Museum, White Cloud's birthday is still a gateway for community members to come together to celebrate.
Events for the weekend festival start Thursday night with live music at this week's installment of the Downtown Arts Market at Hansen Arts Park. Friday will have Sidewalk Sales on First Street downtown from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday, the grand finale, has such a wide variety of events it'd be impossible not to find something you like.
This weekend provides residents with an opportunity to leave the house, meet some friends and enjoy the summer weather while engaging in a unique variety of local fun. Join the wild west shootout at Frontier Village, enjoy a car show, watch the parade and bite into a fresh buffalo burger with a side of ice cream. You could even run a 5K at TRAC and fill up on pancakes at the Jamestown Fire Department.
White Cloud served Jamestown for 19 years. She attracted an estimated 3 million tourists and is the only bison to ever come close to rivaling the reputation of the World's Largest Buffalo statue as the most interesting bison in Jamestown.
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And speaking of the World's Largest Buffalo, this year's event honors 60 years since that icon of the community was built. That event ushered in the era of Jamestown being referred to as the "Buffalo City" long before people thought about things like community identity or slogans.
When White Cloud was born, many pointed out that Albino bison are sacred in many Native American cultures, so the festival was renamed to White Cloud Days to celebrate the bison's birthday each year. A bison had better birthday parties in her lifetime than we ever will; the least you can do is show up to celebrate it.
We owe it to White Cloud to attend the Buffalo Days festival this weekend. This is one of the greatest weekends of the year for Jamestown; and for those of you who complain about nothing to do in town, here's your chance. Entering into the parade is free.
A full schedule of events can be found at jamestownchamber.com.
