MARYSVILLE, Ks. - As summer festivals begin across the Cornhusker state, they also are kicking off in the Sunflower State. 

The northeastern Kansas town of Marysville is readying for Big Blue River Days this weekend, with the festivities kicking off on Friday. Allie Argot has been co-chair of the event for 13 years and says it’s always a summer highlight.

“It is just the big weekend in town,” Argot said. “We have a lot of awesome things we do, but it’s the big weekend where everyone comes together and it’s a showcase of our great community, and a lot of people love to come to town to meet the citizens of Marysville.”

Those visitors come from far and wide, serving as a beneficiary to area businesses and the town’s economy.

“We have a lot of people that come from laces like Kansas City to use our town’s businesses for printing and other things and that’s great,” Argot said. “It goes past this weekend.”

Big Blue River Days features a barbecue competition on Saturday with 30 teams from all over the country on hand. The famous car show, also set for this weekend… If Mother Nature allows.

“Pending weather, we normally have at least 300 cars, we’ll have a couple of bands, a huge corn hole tournament, beer olympics which is always fun and our beer mile Friday night,” Argot said. “If you can chug a beer and run a mile… you’re golden!”

A new feature is the Saturday parade.

“4:30 on Saturday,” Argot said. “That’s new this year to highlight our businesses and some of the winning cars [from the car show], so really that’s the big new event for us this year.”