The Danish Villages of Elk Horn and Kimballton are hosting their annual Tivoli Fest celebration through this weekend. Tivoli-Fest Chairman Jerry Schrader, says the theme for this year’s celebration is "Across Oceans, Across Time," a nod to the Danish Immigrant Museum, which is celebrating it’s 25th Anniversary in Elk Horn.
Schrader says opening ceremonies are this morning and there’s a 3-mile "Mill-to-Mermaid" fun run/walk, between Elk Horn and Kimballton, at eight A.M., and lots of food. He says there will be food stands all over the town. The community of about 700 will also hold a "Passport Venue," something that started during last year’s Tivoli-Fest.
Schrader says the idea is to get everyone around to the different venues, there are eight major venues, and they get a stamp at each venue and they have drawings for money from the passports. The venues include the Danish Immigrant Museum, authentic Danish windmill, town hall, fire station, genealogy center, and Bedstemor’s House, a Victorian-era home built by Jens Otto Christiansen, which is celebrating its 100th Anniversary, on Sunday. The home, which has a storied past, was recently purchased and restored by the Elk Horn-Kimballton Arts and Recreation Council.
The big draw Saturday morning, is the Tivoli-fest parade, featuring a fly-over (weather permitting) by a World War Two-era P-51 Mustang piloted by Mike Henningsen, of Atlantic. He says there are children’s games at the library and the king and queen will ride a large white carriage in the parade and the carriage will be available for rides for everyone else.
There’s open-air entertainment throughout the day, as well. Saturday’s activities wrap-up with a fireworks show at dusk. For more information on all the weekend activities during Tivoli-fest, log-on to the Elk Horn website or call 1-800-759-9192.