Small town, big fun

WILSON CREEK  — It’s a big festival for one of the smallest towns in Grant County.

“The town was full,” said Shirley Billings, a member of the informal committee that puts the Wilson Creek Harvest Festival together. “There was no parking anywhere.”

The 2025 festival brought 200-300 people out to downtown Wilson Creek, Billings said. Wilson Creek’s population is about 200, according to the U.S. Census. 

This year’s festival, which happens Oct. 3, is an all-day affair, according to the schedule put out by the committee. The day will begin with a biscuits-and-gravy breakfast at 7 a.m., followed by a fun run at 8 a.m. that starts and ends at Town Hall. The term “fun run” isn’t exactly accurate, Billings said.

“It’s kind of like everything else on this day; you can do what you want,” she said. “Last year we had people pushing baby strollers. Some people were running and some people were walking. It’s however far you want to go.”

At 10 a.m. the streets will be taken over again, this time for the parade. The route will run from the ball field up Railroad Street to the grain elevators and then back down Broadway. There will be prizes for the best floats, Billings said, including $250 cash for first place. This year there are about 40 entries so far for the parade, she said.

After the parade, there are a lot of things going on around town. There will be a cake walk at Town Hall, followed by displays of vintage tractors and motors, vendors and games for the kids at the park. Bonnie and the Extras will perform country and bluegrass music, both in the parade and at the park. The Wilson Creek Museum will be open in Town Hall.

“People didn’t even know we had a museum,” Billings said. “I got a lot of comments on that. It’s just a tiny little museum, but people loved it.”

Starting at 11 a.m., the Wilson Creek Grange Hall will host a quilt show, with instruction on how to hand-sew a quilt, and a class in spinning with an old-fashioned spinning wheel.

“The instructor is a committee member’s daughter who lives out in Hartline,” Billings said. “She’s quite proficient at it.”

At 1 p.m., the Bring What You Got lawn mower races begin across from the ball field. As the name suggests, the entries aren’t limited to mowers, Billings said.

“Who knows what will show up at the races,” she said. “Last year we had go-karts and motorcycles and even some golf carts out there.”

The races are one of the most popular parts of the festival, Billings said. 

“Last year there was a huge crowd,” she said. “The town emptied, and they didn’t want to quit. There’s a lot of dust and noise.”

After the races, the fun shifts over to the Harvest Moon tavern, where there will be bingo, horseshoes and karaoke for both kids and adults.

Except for the vendors, everything is free, Billings said, and it’s all family-friendly.

“Everything is free for the kids to play and have a good time,” she said. “We tried to keep our games old-fashioned: gunny sack races, egg tosses, things you do in a park.”

The festival took a hiatus in 2024 and was revived last year by members who paid for the whole thing out of their own pockets, Billings said. This year the committee was able to get sponsors on board, she said.

“The whole day is really casual,” she said. “There’s something for everybody.”

    A color guard leads the parade at a past Wilson Creek Harvest Festival. This year’s parade has about 40 entries so far.
  

    A racer careens around a turn in last year’s Bring What You Got lawn mower race.