Podunk-Town Festivals - How to Find and Camp by Them!!

This week we are exploring some of the great, little, small-town festivals in the Mindawinia area and making some completely unqualified recommendations on where to go and stay! 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Camp Mindowinia, where we're reviving the vintage camping vibe in the Midwest. There is so much to see and do in the Midwest, and we want to share it with everyone. So on this show, we'll be talking about all things camping as we explore the states of our name. Glad to have you back at camp, everyone. I'm Liv and I'm here today with my longtime camping buddy and sister Ab. Hi everybody. And today we are recording on location in the fishy house. So we are bringing you ambiance in the background in the form of bird song cicadas and probably a little light wind. Yes. Adds to the camping vibe. Today's episode is Podunk Days. How to find and camp around small town festivals. Now we feel like we are allowed to call them podunk towns because we live in a podunk town. Like you can't find us on a map or a town we live in, you put it into Google, and it's like, you mean Wisconsin? And we're like, no. No, there's a smaller one in Minnesota. Liv, what are podunk days? I'm glad you asked. So most small towns, and let's be honest, even some of the bigger towns and cities take every advantage of summer weather to get out with other members of the community, you know, friends and neighbors, and having something to celebrate is a really good way of rallying everybody together. Yes. And it's usually around a theme. One of our favorite websites for finding small town festivals said that there are three essentials, and we'll we'll name that website later. Three essentials of a festival, and those are food, vendors, and entertainment. Yes. Now, the kind of food, entertainment, and sometimes even vendors is critical in the festival because that's usually what the festival is centered around. So we can get into some of the different common themes you'll find in a small town festival. So I would say one of the main ones I see a lot is food-centric. Yes. So this would be your kolotke days, your grilled cheese championship, that's in Wisconsin. Kalotchki Days is in Minnesota. Um, Wild Rice Fest, that is in Minnesota as well. I mean, the the number, I mean the types are endless. Oh yeah. I know. When we were doing research, I was like, there are so many food festivals. Yeah. Like I saw potato days, of course, corn shows up all the time. Wisconsin has, I think, 14 different corn ones, and that's not even taking into account how many Iowa has for corn, also. Yeah, I would imagine Iowa would have even more. Surprisingly, Wisconsin had more, but I think it's just because Wisconsinites like to party. Well, that could be. And Iow Iowegians might be a little bit tired of corn. I don't know. Maybe because they say a lot more creative, as we will discuss later. Oh, yeah, they're fun. And then in South Dakota, the Buffalo Roundup is like bison-centric, but you can like eat it and everything there, which is crazy. Yeah, at the Buffalo Roundup, like when you're watching the Buffalo Roundup, they have little food tents where they serve like bison burgers. I think they start with like a pancake feed, right? Yeah. Yep. And then later in the day they have bison burgers, or maybe it was bison smoke. Sausage bison. They definitely had bison burgers, but they might have had something else too. Yeah. And then I'm sure there are a ton of bison products available down at the little fair part that's happening. I see down, but you know, not up in the hills, down in the park. Yeah. In Coster State Park. Other themes are on a topic. I just I was looking for a more inclusive word than topic, but they can be so incredibly varied. It's not even funny. Like there's the Tulip Festival in Iowa. There's a fiber arts festival in South Dakota. There are art festivals in general, of course, would probably fall under a topic. There's the antique machinery and threshing show in Nebraska. Cool. So these can be literally on anything. Yeah. And Iowa even has hobo days, which we'll talk about in a little bit. There are festivals on history. For example, there's the fur trade days in Nebraska. Rendezvous would probably also fall under this category. And rendezvous are like historical reenactments with um usually like some vendors and some food available, but the main focus is on people who are like dressed in historical costume and it's typically, you know, pretty accurate. And then they may like present on some historical theme. You know, for example, like if they're a blacksmith, they show you how people would have done blacksmithing in a previous century, really, or you know, fiber arts or wood carving, you know, different things like that to kind of bring history alive. Yes. We like one in Minnesota called the Big Island Rendezvous, and that is an Albert Lee, and they have so many fun, different living history actors. I mean, they've got like a lady with a stagecoach that her husband built to look just like a real one with the exact specs and everything. It is so cool. Yes, rendezvous are by far my favorite kind of festival. I just love the history and I love that they're like, you know, usually pretty accurate. Like I know the Big Island rendezvous, like all of your gear and all of your talking points, everything, they have to like be passed before a board and they have to be approved for historical accuracy before they'll put you on the schedule. And I just think that's so cool. I know there are a lot of festivals that are fun and a little bit kitschy, like you know, Renaissance festivals and things like that, where there's like, you know, no, no attention to historical detail whatsoever. Right. And those are definitely fun too. They have a time and a place, but these like historically accurate, you're really gonna learn something fairs. Oh, I just love them so much. And it's fun too, because people are in costume and there's usually some kind of entertainment like music and fun food. Another one, of course, is the small town one in Iowa, where they celebrate their rich train history in the area by turning the entire town into the festival, including the townsfolk apparently walking around in Victorian era outfits that they have made. I know. That one is really cool. I wonder if like guests who are just visiting from out of town also get into costume and it's based on the blog article I was reading. I'm like, yeah, I think I think everyone gets into this. Yeah, it's pretty cool. If we go, we definitely have to come up with some costumes. Ours would not be historically accurate. Yeah, but it would be so fun. That would be fun. The last category I could think of was town festivals. And these are typically where you get those days ones like Wilmer Days, Vesley Days, Pano Prague, which doesn't have the day in it, but it's basically just a town day. Yes. Yeah, Panoprogue is Lakeville. Yeah, and they just have like carnival games and food trucks. No, you know what? I've I saw them recently online, and they have some unusual things. They have a speed puzzle comp competition. Like you put together a puzzle? Well, they didn't have details. Oh but there was uh then a picture of like four women holding up a board that had a puzzle on it. Maybe it's like teams. Yeah, I'm assuming it's teams. We gotta get daddy. It's just like a substantial puzzle. Like, I don't know how long it took them. Maybe they get like the entire day or something. But I mean, I would have guessed I don't I don't do puzzles all that often, but it looked like, you know, kind of your standard like large 500 piece, maybe? Yeah, maybe 500 pieces. Okay, you, me, dad, aunt Joe. Oh, I'm sorry, little puzzles. I would not be good. Four of us, five of us, boom. Yeah, we could do it. That sounds fun. It does sound fun, and it's kind of unique. And I think that's kind of one of the hallmarks, too, of these small town festivals, is they all have something that's a little unusual, you know, a little unique, a little specific to the area that they throw in as part of the entertainment, part of the activities that make them a fun little culturally important stop. Yes, definitely. Now we know what festivals are, or at least have an idea. The next question, of course, is where to find them. So we have some websites that we like to use. The first one is festivalguides and reviews.com. It is incredible. You can go state by state, select the state, and then scroll down, and they're by date, starting in like May and then going through the fall. Yeah. I think there was even some winter festivals. I think there's some of the states in the Midwest really do lean into that, especially like Minnesota and Wisconsin. Wisconsin, yeah, for sure. Yeah, it is a fantastic website. However, they are missing a few states. But they had a spot on there where they said, if we don't have a state that you want, um, you can request it. And then, you know, presumably it'll take them some time. But the more requests they get, probably the more motivated they will be to get those on there. Another website I've used before is fairsandfestivals.net. Um, it's a very primitive website, as you can imagine, by the.NET.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

And another great resource is the state tourism websites. Yeah. Yeah, they all had a lot of them, especially like if I was just searching, you know, festivals in or small town festivals in North Dakota. It like the first result was the North Dakota tourism website. I went on there, I'm like, oh yeah, there's a ton on here too. Yeah. And same with, you know, all the other states that we looked up. Um, Minnesota, especially. Usually when you're on their website, look for the events tab and it'll be under events. And then sometimes you can even like, you know, refine the search a little bit more and put that you're looking for festivals, and then, and sometimes they even ask what kind of festivals, and then you could really narrow it down and find exactly what you're looking for, or you can just browse if you're like, Yeah, I'm not really sure what I'm looking for, but I'm looking to have my interest peaked. Another thing that I have found to be extremely helpful is literally take the town or the area that you want to be in for your trip and type that into Google with then like the word festivals after it, like you know, such and such city, blank state, festivals. Yes, like if you already have a trip planned, this is best for that. For example, if you've already booked your campsite, then you know like what distance you're willing to travel for a festival. So that's how you would know the location. Yes. Or if you just won't know you want to go to a state. I was just like Googling the other day festivals in Wisconsin, and you would not believe how many options it just popped up to random websites. I mean, they would be like someone's blog post on this one festival, and then they had the dates for this year. Or it was a local newspaper one that pulled up for another one, and I was like, oh my gosh, there's so many options. Right, yeah. And I've definitely, definitely searched for like best festivals in Wisconsin. Yeah. Before, and then just see what shows up on the best. Of course, sometimes the internet's idea of the best festival may not be yours. Like, I think the kitschier the better. Yeah, for sure. The f the weird fun off the wall activities make it more fun, and sometimes, you know, Google might think differently. I don't know. Right. So you can always dig a little deeper. So to give some real examples, we looked up a couple, one or more, festival in each of the Mindowinia states. And this is the full disclosure, we have not been to any of these. Nope, we haven't. They just looked fun, and they're ones we might be willing to try out, but we thought they're far enough in advance, hopefully, that um if any of our listeners are interested in checking any of these out, you might have time to book a stay near one of them, or even be able to just, you know, make the time in your schedule to drop by if you happen to be close. So we will go state by state, and then we'll we'll we'll do every other state. And we also are suggesting a campground that is nearby. They're again campgrounds we have not stayed at. They are just ones that looked good online, they had good reviews, and seem to have, you know, the reasonable amount of amenities that our listeners would probably expect. Yeah. As well as like we tried to go, okay, of all of the campgrounds in the area, which one looks like, you know, the nicest, the most well laid out, maybe the most scenic. Or there's only one campground in an hour one. Yes, yeah. Yes. So some of the closest, perhaps. Yeah. I'm gonna start with North Dakota. And I actually have two for North Dakota. The first one is the Off the Charts Music Festival, and this is in Cavalier, North Dakota. The dates are August 15th and 16th for 2026, and they they do that, they put this on every year. This is a free Christian music concert, and uh why we thought it bore mentioning is that it has some pretty recognizable um artists. They're having 10th Avenue North and Citizen Way, as well as several other a little bit smaller artists. We thought for some kind of headlining names for it to be a free concert in the park was uh, you know, a great opportunity. Yeah. So they do expect that people are coming from distances and not just like locals, because they do recommend even on their website some camping opportunities. Um, in the park where the festival takes place, there is some primitive tent camping. The information online was a little bit confusing, but I think how it goes is you're allowed to have your tent. Oh no, no, that that this is it. You're not allowed to park there. You can have your tent there, but you have to park elsewhere. So, like you could probably drive in, set up your tent, and then move your car. Right. Yeah. And that they did not say a price for that, but I think it's free. Cool. Yeah. And then the um Evergreen RV park, if you are camping in an RV, is um right there as well, right close by. They have full hookup sights, and the full hookup sights are $30 a night. Oh my gosh, that's a great deal. Right? And it was like for, you know, uh North Dakota park. I thought that it was very nice looking. They had tall trees, it definitely looked like there was some shade in the pictures online. That's nice. Yeah. So I think that seems like a a perfectly nice place to camp. Uh, my second one in North Dakota is the chokecherry festival in Williston, North Dakota. This is a one-day event and it's August 8th. So that one's coming up a little bit sooner. What is a chokecherry? Um, I don't I don't know if it has another name or anything, but a chokecherry is just like a small, really dark berry. They're like wild. You can find them in a lot of places. The kind of the main thing about them is if you pick them off the plant and eat them, they're very, very bitter. Oh. But if you turn them into like jams and jellies or syrup, they're delicious. The bitterness like goes cooks out. I'm not sure if it's just because you add so much sugar or what it is, but they're not bitter once they've been processed. So like the underlying berry flavor is good. Yes. Oh, okay. It's kind of like a a warm, rich flavor, not like a you know, like a red berry, but more like a darker fruit, like a currant or something. Numb. Some of the activities at the Chokray Festival are they have a 5k race. There's a pancake breakfast. Pancake breakfasts seem to be like a major staple of festivals. Oh my gosh. In the Midwest, especially. We are obsessed with pancakes here, and I didn't even realize it. I know. I wish they had waffle breakfast because they're not going to be able to do more. Yeah. But still. They have music, of course. They have because that's another stable. Yeah. They have a car show, another staple. Then they have tons of choke cherry products for sale. And then there's a wood carving competition that you can watch. Fun. Yeah, I thought that sounded pretty fun. Uh for camping, there is the nearby. So, okay, there were camping options that were right in town, and they were okay, one of them was literally, I think, the most depressing campground I have ever seen. And it was actually a little bit out of town. Not only was it like a parking lot, but there was not a blade of grass in the campground. So I think why there's so many of those in North Dakota is all the transient workers up there. So that makes sense. They're just like thrown together quickly. They don't have a ton of, you know, pleasant amenities because people are there to work and you know, but still I can imagine they'd like to have a little grass around their camper. I know. I've stayed at one though that like grass was minimal. Yeah. It just was like roads and little spots and a handful of trees throughout the entire thing. And I was like, um, a single tree. This one had six that I stayed at. So I mean it was not a lot of trees. But yeah, the road are roads are gravel, the sites are gravel, and the yards are gravel. I mean, it was just it was not great. So anyway, if you go a little bit further, a 23-minute drive. That's not bad. Not bad, will get you to the Trenton Lake Recreation Area in Trenton, North Dakota. This little campground is on the river. It has trees, it's pretty, it looks like a really nice place to stay. Yeah. And it is $20 a night. And for the $20 fee, you get electric and water hookup. Oh, nice. Yeah, and there's a free dump station. So, you know, that seems like a fantastic price for, you know, kind of mid-range hookups. This campground does have quite a few rules, I would say. So they do allow dogs, fortunately, but um maybe just check the rules before you book just so you know fully what they expect when you get there. And that is North Dakota. I'm gonna start off with Wisconsin, which we fondly call Wisconsin. Because it's kind of fun. Anyway, uh, they have a ton, a ton, a ton of festivals, but I felt like a sweet corn one had to be done because it just felt like Wisconsin to me. So they have multiple ones, but unfortunately some of them have already passed for the year or not necessarily passed. They had one that was a corn festival that wasn't sweet corn. It was just some sort of corn thing. I'm like, sweet corn's not ready in June.

unknown 19:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:28

But anyway, yeah. Okay. So I just went with this one because it looked pretty good. Well, okay, I have to say there's a green giant festival, and they have something called a corn feed. Yeah. And, you know, Green Giant does like canned corn.

unknown 19:42

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

So I was like, I don't know if it's gonna be a canned corn feed. That would be hilarious. But I would I would still eat it. Cause think about all the things you can do with canned corn. Corn fritters. Yes. Although I don't know if Green Giant makes non-bioengineered corn. I think they uh yeah, I actually don't know.

unknown 19:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

Yeah. Well, anyway, that's not the point. So moving on to this one. This is the Sweet Corn Festival on Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. It is August 19th through the 23rd of 2026. Obviously, the dates will change if you're not listening in 2026. Um, they have a parade, which I thought was really fun. And I think they have parades two different days of the festival. Oh nice. Then they have carnival nights where they have carnival rides and lights and food and random entertainment y things. This is where you get your cheesecards, probably. Oh my gosh, I'm sure it's Wisconsin. Like, my god. Oh my gosh, yeah. Their cheesecards hopefully are gonna be like next level. So good. Then they also have live music, and that of course changes every year. They had a list of people, but I think they were more like locally, because I didn't know who they were.

unknown 20:48

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

But one of them sounded like country music, and I don't really listen to country music, so I was like, eh, I don't know. But it looks good. And then they have this is the most bizarre part I've heard about it, a hot pepper eating contest. Oh. Now, what does that have to do with sweet corn? I don't know. But smaller town festivals, who cares? Yes. And this, full disclosure, is not necessarily a small, small town. I think they have like a population of 10,000, but you know, okay, it's got that Wisconsin small town vibe, I think. Right. Okay. Then on top of that, they also, of course, have steamed sweet corn. I think it's a situation where you buy it by the ear and they have like tons of it donated. So there should be a lot there. I don't think I could even eat them out of sweet corn. So oh my gosh. Yeah. I can hardly wait for sweet corn. I know sweet corn season. Oh yes. Corn is my favorite food, in case no one has picked up on that with all of my mentioning of popcorn over the past two seasons. Oh, and sweet corn on the campfire is just amazing. Oh my gosh, yes. Or Mexican street corn, like the Americanized version. We make that a lot. Oh, that's so good too.

unknown 21:59

I would

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Probably go there, buy a bunch of corn, bring it back to a camper. Yes, because then like then too. Okay, steamed corn sounds good. Well, they dip it in butter too. Okay, well, that sounds better, but like there's just nothing better than corn on the cob on the fire. Yes. I know. And you can dip it in butter. You totally can. Or you can season it how you want. The campground I went with was one that had full hookup for motorhomes because that just seems like the most applicable to what I would be interested in. It's a 15-minute drive away and it is whistle stop campground. They have full hookup sites, all of your typical amenities, including like kids' playgrounds and all the stuff. And that is $84 plus dollars a night for the full hookup. They had like varying ranges, like you know, some things are more expensive for like pull-through and back in and all the different things. Sounds good. And that wraps up Wisconsin. In South Dakota, we are suggesting the Beresford's old fashioned weekend. And this one is July 29th to August 2nd this year. And some of the things that it features are a community cookout. I'm not exactly sure what that looks out, but it sounds looks looks like. But it sounds fun. There's a farmer's market, an outdoor movie. They did not say what it was, but I'm assuming something family friendly. There's a barbecue. I believe the barbecue is maybe competitive. Oh. Yes, I know. I mean, like people who are competing to make better barbecue. I am all for that. There is an old-fashioned fare and flea market. And I'm not sure exactly what the old-fashioned fair part is, but of course the flea market would be fun. Flea markets are another part. Well, we'll talk about those a little bit more in a bit. Uh, there's kitty train rides. There's a car show, of course. There are there's a burnout contest with the cars from the car show, I believe. And then the cars from the car show do a cruise through town. So it's kind of like a parade, but you can just watch them driving around. That's cool. Yes, I thought so. And then they have, of course, the obligatory pancake feed. Nice. And then you can stay uh in Beresford, South Dakota to see all of this at the Windmill Campground. They have full hookup sites for $50 a night. Very nice. You know, I wonder if the cookout thing is like have you heard of those festival day things where everyone has to bring a cake? No. Oh my gosh, they're so cool. They haven't come to the Midwest. We're not that cool.

unknown 24:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

They're on the east and west coasts, but they'll do these things, and it's kind of like a thing where you have to be invited. Okay. So you have to like get someone to refer you to the guest list, but it'll be hundreds of people, and the only requirement to participate is you must bring a cake. Oh wow. And then what do they do with the cakes? They set them all out, and then you go through and they have people there to help you get served a piece of different types of cakes that you want. Oh, you eat them. Yes, and you can have as many pieces of cake as your piece of cake can be cut into. So if your cake can be cut into eight pieces, you can try eight other cakes. Wow. Yeah, they're so neat. So I wonder if the cookout's something like that. Everyone just has to bring an item. We've gotta find some way of getting this cake day into the Mendoinia. Yeah, we do. You know what? Maybe eventually we will be able to do a camp Mindowinia rally and we will have one of these cake events. It would be so delicious, yes. I could make a corn cake. Not like cornmeal, but like sweet. Because last year at the Minnesota State Fair, they debuted a new flavor of ice cream, and it was sweet corn ice cream. And my Lil that I take with me everywhere and I tried it, and we were like, this is the most amazing thing we have ever had in our lives. Seriously? But she also loves corn. So I mean she's a corn. It had pieces of sweet corn in it. And a salty sugar mix. I wouldn't like that at all. Oh my gosh, it was amazing. You would like it, Liv. I don't think I would like that. Would you give it a chance? Yeah. Imagine buttercream with pieces of corn folded into it. No, that just doesn't sound good. Okay. I would try it for the sake of being adventurous, but like I wouldn't try it because I thought I was gonna like it. I think a corn marmalade cake, that's what I'd do. Corn marmalade? Yeah. No. How about just a sweet cornbread? Yeah, you know, really light, fluffy cornbread, the cream cheese frosting. No, no, no. A whipped honey butter and cinnamon frosting. There you go. Sounds amazing. It'd be delicious. On that note, let's move into Nebraska. And of course, we would be remiss if we talked about Nebraska without talking about the Old West Balloon Fest. Which sounds so cool. It's hot air balloons. Yes, that's what I was gonna ask. And they have like hundreds of them. Okay. This is in Nebraska. Yep. It is this like really well known? Like, does this happen? This is like Yeah, it's pretty well known. It happens in August every year. It's split between Scottsbluff, Nebraska, and Mitchell, Nebraska. Okay. They're 15 minutes away from each other. Scottsbluff is larger. They have like a community college that hosts part of the event on their grounds. And then Mitchell has a very large airfield and like farming fields that are opened up for it type of thing. So is this one set up like you go from one town to the other? Like they expect you're gonna do that. And they're literally 15 minutes away from each other, so it's not like it's a crazy thing to get from one to the other. Okay. Yeah. And then the activities are kind of divvied up between them, but they don't really tell you kind of like which or where. I think they kind of see what they have space for and whatever, and then kind of go based on that. So they of course have food trucks because what type of festival is or without food? Nothing, of course, hot air balloon themed, but I don't know how you theme food for that anyway. So then they have different activities and games and stuff for kids there, of course. There's hot air balloon experiences that you can book, I think, in advance for some of them, and then there for some of them. Then they have vendors selling different things, and then they have like some kids' competitions, and it's just a bunch of really random stuff, like most of these small town festivals. But then they also have their night glow where they have the hot air balloons. I think like how what I don't know what you'd call it when they're stuck to the ground, but they're blown up. Tethered? Probably I don't know what's going on. What you call it, right? Anyway, they have a bunch of them like lit up and glowing at the community college. It's the Western Community College, I think. Okay, like is the whole balloon part glowing? I think so. I think that's kind of what it's supposed to be. Yes. So that is at the Western Nebraska Community College grounds, okay. Like one of the nights, and then the next day, a bunch of the air balloons go up in the air, and then you watch them traveling away from you across the horizon. Oh yeah. To wherever they land. I don't really know where they land, but you know, you're probably not gonna be there for the landing. Right. Okay. Well, I wondered if they like come back. Um, no, I think well, they might come back, or maybe it's just waves of balloons.

unknown 29:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Because there's a lot of hot air balloons out there. Like, it's crazy. We've seen tons and tons of them in our area in rural Minnesota. So I think they just get a ton of people from all over the country come for it. Okay. Then they have a craft fair on top of having like their vendors and other stuff. And a wiener dog championship race. Cute. I thought that sounded adorable, but at the same time hilarious, because like there's no way they can run that fast, right? Well, don't they do like races with wiener dogs a lot? I think you're thinking of greyhounds. No, no, obviously greyhounds are a different story. But wiener dogs are a normal racing thing? Well, maybe not. Like, I know they do corgi races a lot of places, don't they? Yes, which sounds like it'd be so cute because they're so like fluffy. Yes. But see, they look like corgies look fluffy. They look too fluffy to run fast. Yes. But like wiener dogs are kind of like sleek, you know? But such a long body. True. I feel like it would look disjointed, like the one in Toy Story. Yes. I mean, we had cousins that had one that when I saw her run, but I don't know. She just didn't go very fast. Well, it still sounds cute. Whatever it is. Yes, it'll be adorable, I'm sure. So then we need to move on to the campground in the area, which is Riverside Campground, and that is located in that Scotts Bluff. Mitchell didn't, I think, have any campgrounds, unless maybe they have ones that just don't show up on Google. I'm not really sure. Um, and this place is nice because it has full hookup options as well as tent sites. So no matter what you need, they've got it. I didn't see the price for the tent sites on their website, but the price for a full hookup RV spot is only $35 a night. That's amazing. I know. It's so stinking affordable. I'm like, that's like, well, the North Dakota one was full hookup for $30 as well. I know. Like this is crazy. I know. These prices are fantastic. See, it's worth it going to these really small towns for these little festivals because like you're gonna find really affordable camping and fun entertainment. Yes, definitely. So yeah, that is the Old West Balloon Fest, which is way too fun to say. In Minnesota, we have the Hoyt Lakes Water Carnival, which is in Hoyt Lakes. So this is like a theme and a town one, you know, like Hoit Hoyt Lakes days, but it's fun. Hoyt Lakes Water Carnival. The dates are July 23rd through the 26th this year. And of course, these things all change from year to year for the dates because they typically are like, oh, the last weekend of July, although this would be the second to the last weekend of July. Okay. Um, some of the events are they have a community-wide picnic, which just sounds like a fun thing. You bring your own stuff and you picnic with other people in the town. Fun. They have two tournaments. One is called a holy board tourney, and this is H-O-L-E-Y, which I assumed, oh, beanbag toss. Yeah. But they also have a beanbag tourney. So I'm not sure if they're two separate things or they're just two different names for the same thing. Go and try it. Or maybe one is for like more seasoned professionals and the other is more like me, who doesn't hit the board 90% of the time. Beanbag tourney is like for us. Holy board tourney is for experienced people. I don't know.

unknown 32:47

Right.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

They also have a book sale, which I thought was kind of fun and unusual. Yeah. There's a golf tournament. I'm not sure if the golf tournament is open participation or not. I'm assuming it probably isn't. Okay. But the beanbag tourney and the holy board tourney looked to both be open for just anyone to sign up. They have things like you have to sign up by, you know, 11 a.m. or something like that. Oh, nice. Yeah. Then they have Circus of Bubbles. I have no idea what that is, and they happen a lot. Like they're scheduled events, the circus of bubbles, and there's like two on Friday, three on Saturday. Maybe it's the Circus Lay of Bubbles. Yes. Gymnastic. It's probably something like, you know, very kid friendly with a lot of bubbles. So they are right on the lake. That seems likely, you know.

SPEAKER_01 33:35

Right.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

They are also having a beach party with a cardboard boat race. Which I think sounds really cute. That sounds fun and like a lot of them are gonna sink. Probably. Which would be super fun to watch, of course. Of course. Like the pumpkin ones. There's of course live music, a staple. I don't know if you can hear the planes overhead. Yes, we're by a small air park right now. Yes. What festival would be complete without a pancake breakfast? Awesome. There is a 5k race in case you ate too many of those pancakes, although I think the pancake breakfast might come after the race. Which is probably a better idea because otherwise you could puke those right back up. Yep, that is true. Yeah, don't do that. Not a good idea. There is bingo on two of the days. And sometimes these little like community bingos are more fun than they sound. Oh my gosh. Liv and I have done it before on Washington Island in Wisconsin. Yes. For their festival that they had. It was awesome. It was very fun. It was hilarious and so fun. It was very hilarious, yes. There's a parade, and then there's a sand pile for kids to play in. And there is a fireworks display on Saturday night. Nice place. In their words, it's a gigantic fireworks display. Oh my gosh, I want to go. Mm-hmm. Gigantic fireworks display fireworks display. Yeah, I know, right? And then on Sunday, which is the last day of the festival, they have a free build your own Sunday bar.

unknown 35:00

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 35:00

As well as some other activities. I think there was another um bubble circus and stuff like that too. But the the Sunday and the fireworks, I mean, this place is just sun and great. Yeah, I think so too. Now, as for camping, there weren't a ton of options remotely close by. Oh no. So there is Fisherman's Point Campground. And their sites only have electricity. And on the lake, because it's a lakefront camp campground, the lakefront sites are $40 a night. The off-lake sites are $30 a night. And then there is a $10 pet fee, but it's just $10 per pet for the whole stay. Okay. Cool. And that is Minnesota. Nice. That one sounds really fun too. Now we're moving on to the one that I think sounds like maybe is my top one so far. And this is in Iowa. This is the Hobo Convention Days in Brit, Iowa. I like that it's convention. I know, I thought that was so cute. I thought it was wrong at first, and then I like searched again and I'm like, no, it is the Hobo Convention Days. Not like festival or anything, but nope, convention. And that is August 13th through the 16th for this year. And then it of course changes. So they have their parade where people, I guess, are dressed up as hobos for different things. And then they have various different entertainments around that, like with hobo jungle music and different things. Presumably, this has kind of like a 1930s Great Depression theme. I think so. So yeah, so they have a like even a museum there that's open year-round. But they said, you know, they kind of talk about how being a hobo wasn't just a depression thing. It was also kind of then turned into a lifestyle. Kind of like our transient workers before we had like that term. You know, people would travel with different work things or two different work areas post-depression, even and a little bit pre-depression. And they would travel by rail and then just kind of like it was kind of like full-time RVers, but who didn't live in an RV.

unknown 37:09

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

You know what I mean? Like remote workers now. On the road permanently. Yes. Yeah, exactly. So they kind of, I mean, they talk about both aspects of it, I think, throughout all the different stuff, but they do, you know, really talk about how it was a way of life not just driven by the depression, which I think is really cool. Yeah. Like I didn't know that's kind of when that idea started. So they also have like arts and crafts, like fair stuff. They have food. Then they elect a king and queen hobo, which I thought was kind of too cute. And then they make authentic mulligan stew in a great big cast iron pot over a fire. That's awesome. Like somewhere in town. Really good. Yeah, and then you can just go and buy a bowl, which I thought was really fun. And then it's so fun. Another fun thing is apparently they've been having people who have been like traveling to town to see this thing for like generations. Okay. And it's because their ancestors actually were hobos who traveled through this town at some point in time. Oh, that is cool. Yeah, I thought it was kind of fun. So they're like, that's kind of like their big thing to like, yes, we even welcome now the you know the descendants of the descendants of our hobo fame or something. I don't know. Yeah. It's nice. We're to stay in the area. We have Crystal Lake Park, which is 15 minutes away. It's just like a, you know, little town park. They have electric sites only. You can find it through the county website, and it is $20 a night. They also have like a dump station and water fill-up and whatever.

SPEAKER_01 38:40

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_00 38:41

But it's pretty basic, but this is really a podunk town. I think like the population is 500 people, so it's it's really small. So it's very small. Yeah. Perfect. That's what we're looking for. Yes. All right. Now that you are armed with more information on podunk festivals than you might ever need or than you ever knew you needed. Yes. Hopefully you are ready to get out there and experience the best the Midwest has to offer. Mm-hmm. And that is our show for this week. Thanks for listening to the Camp Mindowinia Podcast. If you want to connect with us, head over to our Facebook group, Camp Mindowinia, or follow us on Instagram at Camp Mindowinia. Take us on Instagram in your camping posts for the chance to be featured on our page. And if you're enjoying the show, please follow us on your favorite podcasting platform, and we'd love it if you leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify. Join us next Monday for another episode. Bye, guys!