Saturday, July 14th: Wayne, Nebraska throws a “wing-ding” of a party! This weekend is the WAYNE CHICKEN SHOW! Gee, I wish I were near Wayne NE right now. Wayne is filled to the brim with three days of festivities offering more fun than you can imagine; all geared around chickens. Besides the typical chicken cooking or egg toss, there’s also live chicken flying, a best chicken hat contest, a national “cluck-off”, and a rubber chicken chuck, besides lots, lots more.
If that weren’t enough, there’s a parade, an art show, a quilt show, car show, poker run, street dance and tons more cluckity fun. One event I really wished I could have seen, yesterday there was bidding on locally decorated cement chickens.
Visit their web site for more information. There’s even a “Fowl Words” game to play on the home page. http://www.chickenshow.com/
According to the web page, “Coordinated by the Wayne Area Chamber of Commerce, the Chicken Show is a fun event held annually on the second Saturday in July. Founded by the Wayne Regional Arts Council, the first show was held in 1981. The theme of “chickens” was chosen because of 1) the potential for art materials; 2) most people have knowledge and familiarity with chickens; and, 3) chickens can be considered with humor. The Wayne Chicken Show received the 1996 Nebraska Outstanding Tourism Award and was selected in 1999, along with four other community events in America, to be featured in the Library of Congress.
Wayne Chicken Show 2005 was the winner of two Nebraska State Pinnacle Awards given by the Nebraska Festival and Events, Inc. The Collectible 25th Anniversary Egg was awarded “Most Unique” merchandise item. The other award was for best “Festival Photo”.
If you’re close to Wayne NE, stop by and join the fun. For those of us not nearby, we can celebrate the days anyway. Let’s have our own “chicken show” this weekend. Cook up your favorite chicken recipe, add a dollop of hard boiled eggs, and decorate your own chicken. I’m off to find me a chicken to dress up!
