"Farmer Buzz" Fournier gives hayrides in downtown Humboldt at last year's Agua Fria Fest. File Photo/Sue Tone
Dewey-Humboldt's annual Agua Fria Festival will be bigger and better this year with a newcomer - an Antique Gun and Sporting Arms Show.
The fest, which takes place next Saturday, Oct. 10, from 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. along Main Street in Humboldt, will feature a parade beginning promptly at 10 a.m. on the upper end of the road. Nearly two hours later, at 11:30 a.m., parade committee members will distribute awards for the best floats and costumes.
This year's parade theme is "Re-Visit the Old West." Keeping that in mind, organizers encourage all participants and visitors to dress like miners, farmers, cowboys, Indians or sheriff's posse members.
Mock gunfights, skits, a chili cook-off, gold panning, a classic car cruise-in and a costume contest also will be included, along with prize drawings every hour. Those drawings will begin at 11:30 a.m. and culminate at 3 p.m. with the giveaway of a new flat-screen television. Participants must be present to win any prize.
The Prescott Regulators and Their Shady Ladies, an award-winning Old West re-enactment group, will put on mock gunfights and skits - and perhaps make some good-natured arrests.
The Arizona Roadrunners Prospectors Club will set up 20 gold-panning stations, and its members will be available to answer questions about gold mining in the Humboldt area and beyond.
The festival will end with a dinner and dance from 5 to 11 p.m. inside American Legion Post 78, 12470 Legionnaire Way off South Highway 69, due south of Town Hall. Tickets are $15 for a dinner of mesquite-pit cooked beef or chicken, and $10 for the dance with the Buddy Moeck Swing Band. Cocktails will be served at 5 p.m., followed by the dinner from 6 to 8 p.m.
Remarkably, 2009 marks the 104th year of the celebration for the town, once known as Agua Fria in 1905. The town and the festival have undergone many changes over the past century, although several of the festival's activities remain the same.
For example, vendors and local businesses can rent a 12-foot by 12-foot booth for $25 to share their goods and services with the public.
(Those requiring electricity pay an additional $25 fee.)
For every dollar spent at a booth, participants receive one raffle ticket. In between the raffle drawings, festival attendees can enjoy music and entertainment on two stages. They also can buy food from vendors selling mesquite slow-cooked beef, bratwurst, sauerkraut and German potato salad.
The Bradshaw Mountain Lions Club will barbecue hamburgers and hot dogs. Other eats include Mexican and Italian food as well as pizza, kettle corn and famous candies from Sweet T's. This alcohol-free event also will have non-alcoholic beer and wine for sale.
Festival Committee Chairman Bob Greene said this is the first time the festival will play host to an Antique Gun and Sporting Arms Show for adults.
Meanwhile, children will have the chance to play in an arcade section that includes games, face painting and inflatables. Those itching to burn off some steam can use a sledgehammer at a car- and truck-bashing booth.
For more information about vendor booths, call Bob Jobst at 928-632-8889. To ask about the parade, call Greene at 928-632-0802. Chris Berry will have festival entertainment information at 928-227-3236.
