Frontier Days will be held June 6-8.

The theme this year is Hats Off to Those Who Came Before Us.

That’s an appropriate theme because according Jeanna Becker, the leader of the Frontier Days Committee, Fort Dodge is marking these big milestones this year:

175 years since the Fort Clark, later renamed Fort Dodge, was established by the Army 60 years since the Fort Museum and Frontier Village was established 50 years since the first Frontier Days celebration was held

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla
C.D. Olsen (right) shows Sydney Nagel and her daughter Mila Altman, 4, of Fort Dodge, an old photograph during Frontier Days on Saturday at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village.

The Many Moccasins Dance Troupe will be making its Frontier Days debut this year. The group’s members from the Winnebago tribe in Nebraska do traditional and contemporary Native American dances, fancy feather dancing, narration of dances, story telling and flute playing.

The group will do one show on June 6, three shows on June 7 and two shows on June 8. It will also be in the June 7 parade.

Live music will feature prominently in this year’s celebration.

“We’ll have a lot more music than we’ve had in the recent past,” Becker said.

Performing on June 6 will be Hat Trick, Section 7 and Tim Slater of Renegade Soul.

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla
From left, cousins Michael Anderson (3) of Fort Dodge, Ben Anderson (7) of Fort Dodge, Grace Anderson (9) of Fort Dodge, Luke Keagle (3) of Sioux City, Ella Anderson (12) of Fort Dodge, and Lucy Keagle (10) of Sioux City attend the annual Frontier Days parade on Saturday in downtown Fort Dodge.

June 7 will feature music by David Simmons, Evan Pratt and Clint Riedel, Stadium Drive and the Tank Anthony band.

Featured entertainers will include ventriloquist Kevin Horner and hypnotist Jim Mitchell. Both will be in the Opera House at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village.

There will be a Kids Zone set up within the walls of the stockade. It will feature basketball and football, foam parties and a barrel train ride.

Locating the Kids Zone in the stockade was a deliberate choice, according to Becker.

“This way we’re going to get more people inside there to see what we have,” she said.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Terry Moehnke, the grand marshal of Frontier Days 2024, watches as three small cannons prepare to fire to formally start the event during opening ceremonies at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village Friday evening.

Visitors to the Fort Museum and Frontier Village during Frontier Days will also find multiple food booths and a Pioneer Marketplace full of vendors.