Rain or shine: Join thousands for food, fun, and festivities at Jackson Homecomers Festival

The annual five-day festival​​ – Jackson Homecomers – is scheduled for Tuesday, July 23 to Saturday, July 27.

The festival will launch at 6 p.m. Tuesday, with the long-standing tradition of Jackson Mayor Dwain Hahs addressing the audience from a stage on the old courthouse square, with the hope the scattered thunderstorms hold off for the night.

Temperatures are expected in the low-to-mid-80s each day, with scattered thunderstorms in the forecast for Homecomers, which launched in 1908 in celebration of the completion of what is now the former Cape Girardeau County Courthouse.

“It depends if there would be a thunderstorm during the day, that won't make any difference. We normally do everything in the evening. In the past, we usually had at least one night during the week when it would rain anywhere from a light rain to a thunderstorm. It doesn't matter, they'll shut down the rides and the crowd will go away and that's basically the end of it for the night. If it rains during the day, then everything goes on as normal, so it just depends on when it hits and how hard,” said Larry Koehler, longtime chairman of Homecomers for event organizer American Legion Post 158.

There will be food, live entertainment, and amusement park rides throughout the five-day Homecomers festival.

Koehler said there are people who travel from other states to come to Homecomers and make the festival a part of their vacation each year.

“Just being able to visit with so many people and see people from, you know, a lot of people locally that you don't see other than maybe once or twice a year, as well as some of those people who traveled great distances to get here. So, it's just been able to get together with the people in visit a little bit,” he said.

There is no admission fee to come to the festival. Koehler said he is always asked how many attend the festival but never has a number because there are no tickets sold.

“If you get up on the stage in front of the old courthouse and just look down High Street, you will see, like, thousands of people there, because the street will be packed as far as you can see. Like I said, we don't don't sell tickets. We don't charge admission. So you know, it's just anyone's guess. And then over the five-day period, you know, it adds up to a lot. We just don't know how many,” Koehler said.

There are nine different streets that lead to uptown Jackson and anyone can come in from those streets and find somewhere to park.

Residents, business owners, motorists, and visitors are advised of the road-closure plan.

Starting Sunday, July 21, the 200 and 300 blocks of South High Street (between Adams and Madison streets) and the south half of Court Street (in front of City Hall) will be closed to traffic beginning at 1:00 p.m. to allow setup time for vendors, carnival employees, city crews and volunteers from the American Legion Hall. All of Main Street and the 100 block of South High Street (between Main and Adams streets) will continue to remain open for traffic all day Sunday and until 5 p.m. Monday, July 22.

From Monday to Saturday, all of South High Street (between Main and Madison streets), all of Main Street (between Barton and Missouri streets), the south half of Court Street, and the south half of Barton Street will be closed to traffic beginning at 5:00 p.m. Monday and continuing for the duration of the festival.

Festivalgoers also are encouraged to use alternate routes of travel during this week. Motorists and pedestrians coming to the event should use extreme caution near the uptown area.