Neewollah - Independence, Kansas Neewollah (which is Halloween spelled backwards) began in Independence, Kansas in 1919 to provide positive activities for young people in place of Halloween pranks. Today Neewollah is an 9 day celebration which includes 3 parades, a chili cook off, a musical & queen's pageant, carnival, concerts, arts and crafts show, Great Pumpkin contest and more. The most interesting activities to me are Saturday's Grand Parade and the Marching Band Festival. The theme of the festival for 2024 is "elf." The Doo Dah Parade is the adult only event of Neewollah. The Mardi Gras type parade extends from Memorial Hall to just south of Penn and Main. It will be 6 PM on Thursday, October 24, 2024. The Neewollah Grand Parade is on the final weekend of the event. People start setting their chairs along the parade route hours in advance and by the start of the parade the crowd along the route is 5 deep. The parade runs nearly 2 hours. Since there is also a band competition in the afternoon, marching bands from 3 states participate. The only thing which could make the parade better is even more use of the Halloween theme. Most of the bands in the Grand Parade participate in the Marching Band Festival and it runs most of the afternoon. The 2024 Neewollah Grand Parade and Marching Band Festival take place 5 days before Halloween - Saturday, October 26. The Grand Parade will be at 11 AM and the Marching Band Festival at 1:30 PM. Both events are free. On October 28, there will be a concert featuring the Tyler Farr at 8 PM in downtown Independence. Tickets are $25-40.
Neewollah web site
|
