Frontier Days begins this evening. The gates at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village on Kenyon Road will open at 4 p.m. The opening ceremony will start at 5 p.m.

The parade will start at 10 a.m. Saturday and travel over a new route on First Avenue North, 11th Street and Central Avenue. The 11th Street segment has been designated a quiet zone where no sirens or other loud noises will be permitted.

There will be activities at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village Saturday and Sunday.

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

-Messenger file photo
Matt Alcazar gives Melanie Smith, then 6, a lesson on the different types of coal a blacksmith uses during 2022 Frontier Days at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village.

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

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.

-Messenger file photo
From left, cousins Michael Anderson, then 3, of Fort Dodge; Ben Anderson then 7, of Fort Dodge; Grace Anderson, then 9, of Fort Dodge; Luke Keagle, then 3, of Sioux City; Ella Anderson, then 12, of Fort Dodge; and Lucy Keagle, then 10, of Sioux City, attend the 2025 Frontier Days parade in downtown Fort Dodge. This year's parade will start at 10 a.m. Saturday following a modified route due to construction on Central Avenue.

The group will do one show today, three shows on Saturday and two shows on Sunday. It will also be in the 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 today will be Hat Trick, Section 7 and Tim Slater of Renegade Soul.

Saturday 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.

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