Spring is here, which means summer and the Thamesville Threshing Festival are just around the corner.
The festival will be June 20 to June 21, and this year it's celebrating a huge milestone. This year marks the festival's 50th anniversary, meaning organizers want it to be bigger and better than ever.
"We've been keeping it in our back pocket, but we're going to have the first ever drone show in Chatham-Kent on the Friday night," festival organizers Bill Finley and Ed Pumfrey announced. "And we're doing a larger and better fireworks show on the Saturday."
To mark the beginning of the festival, there will be a 1970s theme.
"This theme's going to have a dress-up competition, but it's not a dress-up competition like you've ever seen before... there's no stage. We have 12 undercover judges that are going to be going around, and with gift certificates that have been donated from local businesses, they're going to be handing them out to the best costumes that they see," the men explained. That contest will last from 4 p.m. Friday to 12 a.m. Saturday.
Festival favourites like the parade and the Baby Show will be making their return as well.
"We're bringing back the wrestling," Finley added. "We've got the Canadian Cowgirls coming this year, we're very excited about that, [we've got] Indigenous dancers... The bands this year are going to be Big Shiny Tunes on the Friday night, and Dirt Country on the Saturday."
Organizers are still looking for sponsors for the festival, and this year, the more you spend the more promotion you'll get in return. Sponsors will have banners displayed on light poles throughout Thamesville from April until Remembrance Day in November.
Those who would like to sign up to be a sponsor or a vendor can contact threshingfest@gmail.com or 519-355-9962.
"We want to see everybody there," Pumfrey and Finley said. "It's always like a big family reunion."