On the weekend of Hutchinson’s transformation into Smallville, live music, food trucks, family fun events and costumes fill downtown.
Nearly the entire town becomes involved, with organizations like Hutch Rec, the Hutchinson NAACP, The Historic Fox Theatre, the Kansas State Fair and Reno County Museum hosting events.
More than a dozen businesses also join in through events or sponsorships, turning the city into a bustling metropolis of possibilities.
The Hutchinson NAACP begins the weekend celebration at 5:30 pm on Thursday with the Juneteenth Celebration Talent Show at Chester I Lewis Plaza. Entry to the talent show is free with sign-up through Facebook Messenger.
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At 6 pm Thursday, Christopher Wietrick, one of the original co-founders of the Smallville Festival and portrayer of Superman, will read the proclamation at the Festival Kickoff at Avenue C and Main Street.
The proclamation officially renames Hutchinson to Smallville for the weekend, beginning the citywide festival of comics, video games, film and literature.
Smallville’s weekend schedule
Thursday, June 16
After proclaiming the town as Smallville, Kansas, Splinters N’ Rust DIY Workshop and Lit Studios will host a downtown block party at 6 pm, complete with live music, a costume contest, food trucks and bounce houses.
Also, at 6 pm, at 14 N. Main St., the gaming group smol.hills will host public tabletop gaming sessions with games like Magic, the Gathering and various roleplaying games like Warhammer and Dungeons and Dragons.
Sandhills Brewing will close out the night from 8 to 9 pm with Music on Main Meetup and Open Mic Night.
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Friday, June 17
Bright and early at 8 am, the American Red Cross Blood Drive will begin at Hutchinson Community College Stringer Fine Arts Center, hosted by HEELO Inc. The blood drive concludes at 2 pm
The Reno County Museum, from 11 am to 1:30 pm, organized a thank you to Smallville’s heroes, where local first responders will meet with the community.
The museum will also present a Community Heroes display with information about Hutchinson’s past and present heroes.
In the afternoon, the Hutchinson NAACP will host a festival at 5:30 pm, complete with live music, food and a skit by the NAACP Youth at Chester I Lewis Plaza.
At 7 pm, the Fox Theater will show “Superman: The Movie” for free to attendees.
Salt City Brewery will host the “Thank you, Smallville!” street concert at 8 pm with the Lost Wax Band, America’s Original Mashup Party Band from Kansas City to conclude the eventful day. In addition, Salt City invited food trucks and will provide indoor and outdoor bar service.
Saturday, June 18
Multiple events begin at DCI Park on Saturday at Second Avenue and Main Street.
Beginning at 7 am, the NAACP will provide a free Juneteenth Pancake Feed complete with pancakes, sausage, juice, water and coffee.
At 8 am, the Superhero 1-Mile kicks off from the park, and 30 minutes later, at 8:30 am, the Smallville 5k begins.
From 10 am to 4:30 pm, the Salt City Cruisers will host a Car Show and at 11 am, professional slackliners will perform.
Over at the Reno County Farmers Market at 103 W. Second Ave., local farmers and vendors will sell fresh produce and handmade items from 8 am to noon.
The winner from Thursday’s NAACP Juneteenth Celebration Talent Show will host a performance during the Farmers Market.
At 10 am, the Smallville Comic Con Begins at the Kansas State Fairgrounds. It runs until 7 pm
In the afternoon from 4:30 pm to 7 pm at DCI Park, the Smallville Pub Crawl begins.
To finish Saturday’s activities, Sandhills Brewing will host a cosplay competition at 7 pm, cosplayers are individuals who engage in cosplay, which is the act of portraying a character from a book, film or video game.
Live music begins at 7:30 pm, and the cosplay awards will follow afterward at 8 pm at Sandhills Brewing.