KALIDA, OH (WLIO) - It is the oldest festival in the State of Ohio, and it is getting ready to celebrate its century-and-a-half anniversary. Kalida Pioneer Days starts its 150th year on September 8th. To get ready for their historic weekend, they unveiled a couple of plaques on Sunday at Pioneer Park to mark the occasion. The one on the outside of the park that notes the 150 years of the festival and soon their will be a historical marker at the location too, to celebrate Pioneer Days being around since 1872. Getting the historical marker has been a three year process, and unfortunately, because of pandemic delays, it will not be done in time for the festival. But that is not going to stop all the fun and thousands of people coming to Kalida to be a part of history.
“Obviously we get people that grew up in Kalida and that moved away and come back. Kind of a homecoming type thing,” says Bill Rieman, Kalida Lions Club and public relations for Pioneer Days. “But we get people, like for the car show, we will get people from 3 states. For our parade on Sunday, we will have over 300 units from all over the county and beyond. It is great that we get the support.”
Some special events for the 150th Pioneer days, include the Budweiser Clydesdales making an appearance at the festival, fireworks on Saturday night, and a free concert Sunday in downtown Kalida. For more information about the festival, log on to www.pioneerdays.com.
