Cheese Days rolls into town this weekend
As politicians in Madison argue over whether Colby should be the state cheese, the city itself will be celebrating the namesake product this weekend with three days of carnival rides, live music, tractor pulls and other entertainment.
The 55th annual Colby Cheese Days officially begins this Friday, July 16, and runs through Sunday, July 18.
Spectrum Carnival has already started setting up rides in Colby’s downtown, with the midway opening at 6 p.m. on Friday, along with a beer stand run by the Abby-Colby Crossings Chamber of Commerce. Food stands open at 5 p.m.
Friday night will also feature ATV pulls starting at 6 p.m. and Colby Lions Bingo at 7 p.m., both on North First Street, followed by live music from the Bear Creek Band from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Elsewhere in the city, a co-ed volleyball tournament will start at the South Sixth Street Park at 6 p.m., and the annual softball tournament will get going at the city softball field east of STH 13 at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday morning will start with the annual Run for Jamison Colby Cheese Days Race, with registration running from 7 to 8:15 a.m. The Jamison Kampmeyer Memorial Mile and kids’ one-mile race will both start at 8:15 a.m. The 10K race begins at 8:50 a.m., followed by the start of the 5K race at 9:10 a.m.
The softball tournament resumes at 9 a.m. on Saturday, and the second day of the volleyball tournament will get going at 10 a.m.
A bench-pressing contest sponsored by Benz Fitness Center will be held at 11 a.m. on First Street, with weigh-ins starting at 10 a.m. For more information, call Chad Bender at 715-223-8100.
The carnival rides and beer stand open back up at noon on Saturday, followed by Lions Bingo at 1 p.m.
An antique and classic tractor pull will fill downtown with chugging diesel engines starting at 3:30 p.m. Weigh-ins begin at 2 p.m. Contact Scott Oestreich at 715-226-6431 or 715-316-1848 with questions.
For those without their own tractor, a pedal pull will be held on First Street, starting at 11:30 a.m. Anyone age 4 and up is welcome to participate; no admission fee is charged.
The Rural Arts Museum will be open to the public on both Saturday and Sunday, from noon to 4 p.m. each day. Sunday will feature the grand opening of the new barn and firehouse buildings.
Saturday night will culminate with the return of The Dweebs, a popular band that drew a huge crowd to downtown Colby in 2019 to hear their high-energy live performance. They will play a variety of songs from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Sunday’s highlight is the annual Cheese Days parade, which starts at noon at the Colby High School and runs down Second Street. Floats will start lining up at the school parking lot at 10:30 a.m.
Following the parade, at about 1 p.m., the Colby Coalition show choir will hold a performance on Spence Street.
The Colby VFW will start serving its famous charcoal chicken at 11 a.m., and the food stands will also open at that time. Carnival rides and the beer stand open up at noon.
A farm tractor pull will get going at 1 p.m. on First Street. Contact Scott Oestreich with questions.
The World Championship Cheese Curd Throw will start at 3 p.m. in front of city hall on Spence Street. Awards will be given out for first place male and female in each age group.
Music provided by The Audio Train DJ will run from 6 to 10 p.m. on Sunday night.
See page 12 for information about the Cheese Days Book and Movie Sale, slated for July 15-17 at the Colby Lions Shelter.
