AugustFest bringing musical melting pot to St. Joseph

By Kendra Simpson

St. Joseph’s summer festivities are coming to an end, but residents have a celebration to look forward to this weekend: AugustFest.

The two-day music festival will feature numerous local and regional performers from Kansas City, Nebraska and Kansas. Saturday’s performances will be dedicated to rock music exclusively, while Sunday will be a melting pot of musical performances including folk, hip-hop, country, indie and more.

While this is the first official year of AugustFest, St. Joseph residents may remember a similar festival last year called “Save Our Museum.”

“It was just a small fundraiser event for the museum itself,” AugustFest organizer Cheyenne Tuttle said. “There was a lot of rumors last year about (Patee House) needing funding and talking about them closing because it cost a lot of money to upkeep that building that is privately owned.”

This year, it is unlikely anyone will consider the festival a “small fundraiser.” Along with performers across the region, local vendors will be selling homemade crafts, apparel and souvenirs. There will also be a mechanical bull, henna artists, a petting zoo and more.

“Take A Bounce is gonna be here, they’re bringing about five or six bounce houses, obstacle courses, we’re gonna have a rock wall, they’re going to do a foam party on Sunday so there’s so many great things,” Tuttle said.

Entrance to AugustFest and most of its entertainment will be free, but donations will be accepted and go toward the Patee House Museum.

AugustFest will be held from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Castle Bridge Event Center at 8403 U.S. 59 Highway. To learn more about the festival, visit the event’s Facebook page.