CHISLIC FESTIVAL RETURNS SATURDAY

JEREMY WALTNER 

– EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Guests from across the state and beyond are expected to converge on the Freeman Prairie Arboretum this weekend as chislic once again takes center stage at one of South Dakota’s fastest-growing annual gatherings.

The South Dakota Chislic Festival will take place for the sixth time Saturday, July 27 starting at 10 a.m. and continuing through the 8 p.m. hour. Food trucks will be on hand selling a variety of fair-like foods and drinks along the northern perimeter of the festival grounds — while chislic is the star of the show, there will be plenty of other offerings — and members of the Menno Volunteer Fire Department will be slinging beer beneath a carnival-like tent nearby.

Live music will take place throughout the day from the stage of the Prairie Rose Amphitheater not far away, and a host of auxiliary activities — from an area dedicated to children to a disc golf and bean bag tournament — will provide plenty to do.

“We’re going to have a great day no matter what,” says Andrea Baer, who is president of the South Dakota Chislic Festival Board of Directors, which has been overseeing the festival since it debuted in 2018. “We’re still an infant of an organization; when you take into consideration the huge changes that happened from that first year to the second year, and then we missed a year because of Covid, we haven’t had enough consecutive years to know what normal is.

“But we’re definitely learning and making improvements every year and working hard to make it the best experience possible,” Baer said, noting increasing involvement from outside organizations and individuals like Phil Baker, a children’s performer who will be in the KidsZone starting at 10:30 a.m., and Teagen’s Light, a suicide awareness group; and the Freeman Lions Club, Freeman Senior Citizen Center and South Dakota VFW.

“We’re very excited that we’re getting some involvement from other organizations in the Freeman area,” Baer said.