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SantiCaliGon Days Festival faithful, there is no need to fear.
Even though Independence Square has been swallowed by construction for the last several months, the site for the city’s annual party will be ready to greet more than 200,000 visitors expected during Labor Day weekend.
“The design process pushed back [our timeline] a little bit further than we wanted it to, so we're not completely finished,” said Independence Deputy Director of Municipal Services Rich Kemple. “But ... when SantaCaliGon sets up, we'll stop all work up here, make sure it's safe for the public, have SantaCaliGon, and then come back and finish those last few items up.”
Kemple said there are some final touches, a few imperfections to correct, and landscaping to install, but the bulk of the work — new, wider sidewalks; rebuilt curbs; some water main and pipe replacements; and road resurfacing, among other tasks — will be finished by Aug. 15. The rest will be tackled after the festival ends.
The five-month construction project right before the Independence Chamber of Commerce’s biggest annual fundraiser didn’t trouble newly hired Chamber President Valerie Byrnes.
“Actually, [it was] the opposite,” she said. “I thought, ‘What a bold move to beautify our city just in time for a festival that means so much to the community.’ I had full faith that this was priority one to get done, and that nobody was going to let anybody down in the process.”
SantaCaliGon is Independence’s biggest annual event. It drew 215,000 visitors over four days last year and will feature more than 270 vendors this year, according to the Independence Chamber.
“I knew I had to hit the ground running,” said Byrnes, who took over as president in late July. “Multiple people have told me welcome, and I hope you can drink through a fire hose, so I knew it was going to be full guns approaching SantaCaliGon. I don't think I'd have picked any other time. It gives me a great opportunity to see my staff in action, to see the excitement of the volunteers, and I look forward to actually seeing the execution of the event itself. Perfect timing.”
The construction crew’s timing was perfect, too.
“I'm very excited,” Byrnes said. “My role is actually going to be to spend time out on the Square doing a little bit of a survey and understanding from visitors why they come, what do they love, what did they love best, what would they love to see improvements around, and just give us a better flavor for what makes sense as we continue to evolve and make it an even better festival moving forward.”
Kemple said he’s excited for SantiCaliGon and hopes festival-goers enjoy the spruced-up area around the Historic Truman Courthouse.
“I'm a little old for the rides, right?” he said. “They are a little bit rougher on me than I prefer, but I definitely like to come up, be out in the community, and enjoy some fair food and see what's going on.”
The SantaCaliGon Days Festival, which started in 1940 as Three Trails Days before it was renamed in 1974, officially opens Friday, Aug. 29, and wraps up Monday, Sept. 1. The carnival will open on Thursday, Aug. 28.
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