Fayette Continues to Celebrate 150 Years at Watermelon Days

FAYETTE, Iowa - Free, family fun continues to be the theme for the 52nd annual Fayette Watermelon Days festival. "The Sweetest Celebration," and round two of the City of Fayette's Sesquicentennial celebration, will continue to provide a wide variety of events and entertainment at no cost to the public. The annual bash is held the weekend after Labor Day, kicking off on Friday, September 6, this year. Friday evening will consist of the free-will donation dinner as well as a variety of free activities including caricatures, inflatables, barrel rides, mini-golf, face painting, balloons, watermelon and more. The incredible Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos will play your favorite songs and take requests as they entertain guests from 6 to 10 p.m. Everyone is invited to participate in the free watermelon eating contest at 8 p.m. for a chance to win a t-shirt. Saturday's bash will continue to have the usual favorites, starting with the parade at 11am followed by free kids t-shirt coloring (while supplies last), fire truck rides, Absolute Science bubble stations, inflatables and more. New free activities this year include mechanical bull rides and rock-the-bike spin art. Saturday will also be filled with a variety of free entertainment including a Fayette Sesquicentennial Musical titled "Welcome to Fayette." The musical will feature area students as they share a few different ways travelers came to Fayette throughout history. Adults can enjoy rock and alternative hits from the 70s to today by the band Dizclaimer at the Upper Iowa University tailgate area while kids of all ages can watch their favorite cartoon characters come to life at the Cartoon Concert downtown. Everyone is welcome to take pictures with the characters following the concert. Saturday evening at 5:30 p.m. Fayette will crown their royalty. Then, at 6 p.m., the free DIVAS, She's Every Woman starring Bonnie Kilroe show will take the stage in downtown Fayette. With fabulous vocals and amazing costume transformations, Bonnie is a musical, comedy genius who takes her audience on a thrilling entertainment ride, as she showcases celebrities from past to present. Bringing characters like Marilyn Monroe and Miley Cyrus and musical legends such as Cher and Tina Turner, Bonnie portrays some of these idols with remarkable exactness while she turns the others into hilarious parodies. Bonnie engages her audiences with her edgy style, comedic talent, and great vocals. Her ability to encourage audience participation gives an added extra element of fun and surprise which adds up to a fantastic evening of entertainment. With one minute costume changes, this show is non-stop excitement. Following the show guests will have an opportunity to get their picture taken with one of Bonnie's celebrity's before the fireworks and sky lantern launch take place. Sunday morning an unorganized tractor ride, a free show and shine car show and a community worship service will take place. "All the regular free activities will be back along with some exciting new ones. We will also have a few things that will have a small cost, including a paintball turkey shoot and axe throwing," said Kris McGrane, the entertainment organizer for the committee. "We work hard to think outside the box and bring entertainment acts that most people have to spend money to see. We decided to go a little bigger this year to celebrate 150 years of Fayette and bring more than one unique entertainment act. I would say that dueling pianos, a historical musical about Fayette and a multi-talented celebrity impersonator is quite a variety of free entertainment." For more details and a list of all the activities and entertainment, visit FayetteWatermelonDays.com or follow their social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.