It’s never too early to start planning.
Though the tentative date of the event is almost a year and a half away, a festival to be held in Platte City that will feature a craft show, an art fair, music, historical re-enactments, barbecue cook-off, and maybe a family-friendly street dance is already in the planning stages.
The festival is tentatively set for Sept. 11, 2010, which is a Saturday, says committee head Susan Stewart, owner of the Main Street Pet Resort in downtown Platte City. But that date could change–organizers want to be sure they aren’t competing against any other community type events going on in the area, Stewart said.
A couple of planning meetings have already been held, and another is on the agenda for this coming Monday, 5:30 p.m. at the Comfort Inn. The meeting is open to all, but it would be a good idea to RSVP so the group can accommodate with a large enough room. Call Stewart at 858-4426 if you’d like to attend the planning session or want to get involved.
Others helping coordinate the early stages of planning include several members of the on-again, off-again Main Street Association of Platte City. Mary Ann Brooks is head of the Main Street Association and actively helping Stewart in planning the festival.
Stewart says the 2010 festival will be seeking some funding help from the City of Platte City. The city has a budget line item for festivals and events, and this committee hopes to make a budget proposal/request to the city as early as June. Mayor Frank Offutt attended the most recent planning meeting, she said.
Stewart indicated the festival will be centered primarily in the downtown area.
“But we encourage any business to get their own thing going during this festival. We will promote, promote, promote,” she said.
She said though the Main Street Association is the name of one of the planning groups, all small businesses are encouraged to get involved.
“We want people to know there’s more to Platte City than the high school, Vo-Tech and the new Price Chopper. I love all those things but this town is mostly made up of small businesses,” Stewart remarked.
She said a September or October festival is targeted “because of the beautiful weather we get that time of year.”
There are no more Harley Owners Group rallies scheduled to be held in Platte City. Those rallies were typically the second weekend in September. Surveys conducted by the city indicated the general public would prefer more of a community festival type event, rather than a motorcycle rally targeted to a specific audience. Stewart and friends hope they are onto something with the event they are planning.
“We want to get as much stuff going on as we can to get people into our town and get people moving around town. We want to keep our shoppers here,” she said.
More details will become available as the planning moves along and budgets for events are determined, she said.