Benton to host annual Neighbor Days festival

A “Mutton Bustin’” sheep-riding contest and a greased-pole climb will be among the activities featured at Benton Neighbor Days this weekend in Benton, Missouri.

Other activities include live music, mud races, carnival rides, pageants, talent show and free games. Concession stands will offer food and drinks.

The festival will run from 5 to 11:30 p.m. Friday and from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

Saturday’s events will begin with a parade at 10:30 a.m.

David Wilhelm, president of the Benton Chamber of Commerce, said the festival has been a fixture in the small Scott County town dating to the mid-1920s. The festival was not held from the 1940s to the 1960s. It resumed in 1969, Wilhelm said.

The festival will take place at the Benton city park. Admission and parking are free.

“There are not a lot of places where you can go that are free,” Wilhelm said.

Cornhole and horseshoe tournaments are on tap for Saturday, along with a family scavenger hunt.

Hundreds of dollars’ worth of prizes will be given away throughout the weekend.

Wilhelm said the festival offers plenty of family fun.

The whole town turns out for the event, he said. “It is about the only time everybody sees everybody.”

People even schedule family reunions to coincide with the festivities, Wilhelm said.

Good weather is forecast.

“It looks like a great weekend so far,” he said.

A highlight of Friday’s events will be the Miss Neighbor Day Pageant.

On Saturday, mud races begin at 2 p.m. behind the old high school. The sheep-riding contest will be at 9 p.m. Saturday.

There will be live entertainment Friday and Saturday. Friday’s music will be provided by the SilverFox band.

The Keith Morrison Band from Nashville, Tennessee, will be featured from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday. The band Paragon will perform on stage from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. to close the festivities.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

300 Chester St., Benton, Mo.